Besxar aims to build a space-based semiconductor fab using reused Falcon 9 boosters
Startup Besxar has secured a deal with SpaceX to test orbital semiconductor manufacturing on Falcon 9 boosters, completing its first two experimental flights.
Ashley Pilipiszyn’s startup Besxar is pursuing a new approach to semiconductor production by exploiting the vacuum of space, avoiding the massive clean-room infrastructure required on Earth. After raising almost $14 million, including a $9 million seed round led by Dauntless Ventures and Overture VC, Besxar negotiated with SpaceX to use Falcon 9 booster payload slots for its prototype fabships. The first two canisters launched on a Starlink mission, demonstrating launch survivability, contamination protection and superior wafer cleanliness, though one experienced a flight-data system fault that is under investigation.
The company intends to iterate over the next two years, eventually mounting larger fabs on vehicles like SpaceX’s Starship, and aims to supply advanced-chip makers with high-purity wafers for data centers, robotics and electric vehicles. Scaling to hundreds or thousands of wafers will depend on affordable launch capacity from Starship or competing next-generation rockets such as those from Rocket Lab and Stoke Space.
Why it matters
Space-based chip production could cut costs and improve quality, reshaping the semiconductor supply chain.
In this story
