Besxar aims to revolutionize semiconductor manufacturing with space-based factories

Besxar, founded by former OpenAI researcher Ashley Pilipiszyn, is developing an orbital semiconductor factory using SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket boosters. The company aims to produce advanced semiconductor precursors in space, leveraging the vacuum environment to avoid Earth's contamination. Pilipiszyn raised nearly $14 million, including a $9 million seed round, to fund the project. The first two 'fabships' flew on a July Starlink mission, successfully testing materials in orbit despite a flight data system malfunction. Pilipiszyn stated that the flown samples were cleaner than terrestrial wafers, a key milestone for scaling up. The company plans to iterate over the next two years, aiming to eventually use SpaceX’s Starship for larger production. She emphasized the need for affordable rockets to scale production, highlighting the importance of SpaceX’s Starship or competitors’ next-gen rockets. Besxar, named after the Star Wars metal beskar, aims to supply leading chipmakers with wafers for advanced chips used in data centers, robots, and electric vehicles. While other companies like United Semiconductors and Space Forge are also exploring space-based semiconductor production, they all face challenges in scaling up due to limited return capacity. Pilipiszyn noted that the company’s success depends on achieving cost-effective rocket launches. She told TechCrunch, 'We’re at a time where it’s actually more cost-effective to go where the physics already works.'