LOUISVILLE, Colorado – 4 december 2024 –Sierra Space, a leading commercial aerospace and defense technology company building a platform in space to benefit life on Earth®, today announced two new agreements to further advance the development of manufacturing in the microgravity environments of low Earth orbit (LEO).
Under new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), Sierra Space will collaborate with both California-based Astral Materials and Florida-based Space Forge Inc, the U.S. subsidiary of U.K.-based Space Forge Limited, on a broad range of semiconductor technologies. Astral Materials uses the microgravity environment of space to grow ultra-high-quality semiconductor crystals for advanced chip technologies. Space Forge uses free-flying manufacturing facilities to produce next-generation materials for commercial industries, national security, and research.
By working with these new partners, Sierra Space is creating opportunities to scale the commercial space industry by leveraging new technologies, ultimately powering the new LEO economy. “At Sierra Space, our mission is to create a LEO economy that benefits life on Earth, and these new agreements bring us one step closer,” said Sierra Space CEO Tom Vice. “To create a strong space economy, we need to harness microgravity, and to do that, it’s important to build relationships with commercial companies that have the best expertise in their respective technology fields to develop new solutions and achieve a common goal.”
The MOU with Silicon Valley-based Astral Materials outlines collaboration on several projects, including those related to Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser® spaceplane, which could include payload logistics for orbital missions, as well as input on the design, development, installation and integration of advanced materials and semiconductor manufacturing payloads. Additionally, Astral Materials may work with Sierra Space to provide input on design and operational aspects of Sierra Space’s space station technology.
“Astral Materials produces materials that cannot be made on Earth,” said Dr. Jessica Frick, CEO and co-founder of Astral Materials. “Our technology uses microgravity as a manufacturing tool that is only accessible in space. Our philosophy is to collaborate with space industry leaders, like Sierra Space, who are already solving the infrastructure challenges of building a robust economy in space. This collaboration with Sierra Space is an exciting opportunity that allows us to focus on our strength: microgravity crystal growth.”
Sierra Space and Space Forge plan to collaborate on both research and development and proof-of-concept missions involving semiconductor materials, components, and related technologies to enable in-space manufacturing. The MOU with Space Forge also includes potential input into Sierra Space’s future space stations in terms of manufacturing facility design and operational concepts. “Part of our mission is to ensure U.S. economic and national security through sustainable and repeatable research and production of semiconductor materials,” said Michelle Flemming, President of Space Forge Inc. “Partnering with Sierra Space, a progressive leader in the aerospace industry with a successful track record, will make that a reality.”
About Sierra Space
Sierra Space is a leading commercial space company at the forefront of innovation and commercialization of space in the Orbital Age®, building an end-to-end business and technology platform in space to benefit life on Earth. With over 30 years and 500 missions of space heritage, the company is reinventing both space transportation with Dream Hunter®, the world’s only commercial spacecraft, and the future of space destinations with the company’s inflatable and expandable space station technology. Using commercial business models, the company also provides orbital services to commercial, DoD, and national security organizations, and is expanding manufacturing capacity to meet the needs of constellation programs. Additionally, Sierra Space builds a broad range of systems and subsystems in the areas of solar energy, mechanical and motion control, environmental control, life support, propulsion, and thermal control, and offers numerous space-as-a-service solutions for the new space economy.
About Space Forge
Space Forge Inc. is dedicated to using space as a unique laboratory environment to produce advanced semiconductor materials that cannot be produced on Earth. By leveraging the benefits of space access and advanced materials manufacturing, Space Forge Inc. plans to revolutionize the U.S. semiconductor industry and support the nation's technological and economic goals.
Source: Sierra Space
