The International Space Station will eventually be retired, but production could then continue on the company’s own space station.
The first space semiconductors could be manufactured on the International Space Station, or ISS.
The American space industry company Axiom Space has been involved in the marketing of a reform that is interesting to the world. The company’s plan is that semiconductor chips, which are the cornerstone of almost all modern information technology, would begin to be manufactured in space in orbit around the Earth.
On Earth, the efficient manufacturing of chips is hampered by gravity and atmospheric gases, but in space there are no such problems.
Techspot says that Axios’ chief technology officer Koichi Wakata spoke about the company’s plans at an aerospace conference held in Taiwan’s Kaohsiung city last November. The Japanese Wakata is himself a former astronaut and the head of the ISS, or International Space Station.
According to Techspot, Wakata has speculated that space production could begin with experimental projects sent to the ISS. The ISS is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2030, when Axios could transfer operations to its own private space station.
In his speech, Wakata mentioned not only the chip industry but also other industries that would benefit from moving into space. In space, for example, artificial organs could be 3d-printed for organ transplants.
Techspot points out that manufacturing chips in space would be prohibitively expensive, at least at the moment.
It currently costs thousands of euros to deliver a one-kilogram load to orbit around the Earth. The production facility itself would also probably have a hefty price tag.
Even SpaceX’s massive Falcon Heavy might not be able to carry enough load per launch for the chip manufacturers to remain profitable. However, Axios seems to believe that things will be different in the future.