Besxar Tests Orbital Semiconductor Factory Using SpaceX Falcon 9 Flights

Semiconductors in orbit

A startup called Besxar, founded by former OpenAI employee Ashley Pilipiszyn, is developing an orbital semiconductor factory that would use the vacuum of space and frequent SpaceX Falcon 9 booster flights to reduce the need for costly cleanroom infrastructure. Besxar plans to test its concept during 12 flights of the Falcon 9 first stage, using two small devices called “fabships” that it says went into orbit in July along with Starlink satellites.

TechCrunch reports Besxar has raised almost $14 million, including a $9 million seed round led by Dauntless Ventures and Overture VC, and says its first canisters were intended to prove they could survive launch, protect wafer samples from contamination, and expose samples to space vacuum. In comments to TechCrunch, Pilipiszyn argued, “We’re at a time where it’s actually more cost-effective to go where the physics already works,” and she added, “Don’t do it on Earth where you’re fighting physics.”

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Testing results and next steps

Besxar says its first two “fabships” flew on a July Starlink mission and were designed to determine whether the samples could withstand the stresses of launch, whether they were sufficiently protected from contamination, and how they would behave in the vacuum of space. The company told TechCrunch that Besxar succeeded in these objectives despite a malfunction in the flight data system in one canister, which it said it is currently investigating. In a statement to TechCrunch, Pilipiszyn said, “The flown samples were the cleanest and had the least amount of particulate matter compared to … non-flown terrestrial wafers, which is fantastic for us as we scale up,” framing the results as support for scaling.

Besxar expects to keep iterating over the next two years, with the next steps described by TechCrunch as heating the wafers and depositing one material, then two materials, and so forth, before moving toward qualification sample production. TechCrunch adds that Besxar’s long-term plan is to fly larger factories aboard SpaceX’s Starship, which is still in development, and that the project’s further development depends on Starship’s success and competition from Rocket Lab and Stoke Space.

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Broader chip and space bets

While Besxar targets semiconductor manufacturing in orbit, other industry efforts are focused on boosting chip production on Earth, including ASML’s initiative to promote adoption of 12-inch photomasks compared with 6-inch photomasks.

Infobae reports that Samsung and TSMC closed separate alliances with ASML to advance chip production, and it quotes TSMC chairman and CEO C.C. Wei saying, “By pooling the experience of the entire value chain of the industry, we expect to continue delivering the benefits of cutting-edge technology through continuous innovation.”

Infobae also quotes Samsung Electronics vice chairman and CEO Young Hyun Jun saying, “By further strengthening our collaboration with ASML, we are laying the groundwork for the next generation of AI and semiconductor innovation,” while ASML president and CEO Christophe Fouquet thanked the companies for collaboration.

In parallel, Besxar’s commercial path is tied to launch economics and the ability to return meaningful product volume to Earth, with TechCrunch saying the key difficulty for orbital-manufacturing projects is the limited ability to return a meaningful volume of product.

TechCrunch reports Pilipiszyn expects to start to scale up to hundreds and then thousands of wafers per fab, but says that path depends on cheap rockets and on SpaceX getting Starship operational or competitors like Rocket Lab and Stoke Space launching next-generation rockets.

Reporting for this sectionInfobaeTechCrunch