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Space Forge

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Not to be confused with Space force.

Space Forge Limited
Company typePrivate
Space Forge
IndustrySpace industry
Founded2018; 6 years ago (2018)
FoundersJoshua Western and Andrew Bacon
Headquarters
Cardiff
,
United Kingdom
ProductsForgeStar
Number of employees
70 (2024)
Websitespaceforge.co.uk

Space Forge is a British aerospace manufacturing company headquartered in Cardiff, Wales. Its focus is to develop reusable on-orbit fabrication capabilities to enable the novel production of semiconductors and alloys in microgravity.

History

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Space Forge was founded in 2018 by Joshua Western and Andrew Bacon, whilst they were working at Thales Alenia Space. In its early stages, the company started in a garage in Bristol, England, before going on to leverage the Compound Semiconductor Applications Catapult (CSAC) in Newport, Wales.[1][2]

In early 2020, Space Forge secured a total of £600,000 including: £100,000 from Innovate UK; £150,000 from 12 members of the Bristol Private Equity Club and additional funds by the Development Bank of Wales.[3][1] The company secured an additional £329,326 of funding from the UK government to support space manufacturing in partnership with CSAC and Clyde Space.[4][5] The Development Bank of Wales announced in July 2021 that Space Forge had raised an undisclosed amount as part of a seed funding round led by Type One Ventures and Space Fund.[6] Tarek Waked of Type One Ventures, who later joined the board of Space Forge, described this as "the largest seed round for an in-space manufacturing company to date".[7] Investors included George T. Whitesides (former Chief Space Officer and CEO of Virgin Galactic[8]) and Dylan Taylor (chairman and CEO of Voyager Space Holdings[8]). The Bristol Private Equity Club increased the groups stake, with 26 members investing a total of £500,000.[9] By this point Space Forge had 15 employees.[9] It was later revealed that Space Forge had raised £7.6 million of initial seed capital.[10]

By September 2021, Space Forge had moved its manufacturing base to Cardiff.[11] In September 2021, Space Forge secured a €2 million contract from the European Space Agency for a commercial space transportation service as part of ESA's Boost! program. Space Forge intends to leverage its ForgeStar platform in the delivery of the contract and is working as part of a consortium including Clyde Space, Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station, CSAC, and the Science and Technology Facilities Council.[11][12] By July 2022, the company had 40 full-time staff based in Cardiff.[13]

In July 2024, the NATO Innovation Fund announced its support for Space Forge and 3 other startups.[14]

Facilities

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Space Forge built the first satellite manufacturing facility in Wales, including a clean room and support for payload integration.[15] The facility in Rumney, Cardiff, is 7,500 square feet (700 m2) in size and was previously used in the manufacture of burger vans.[13]

ForgeStar

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ForgeStar is an on-orbit manufacturing satellite platform leveraging microgravity in the production of semi-conductors and pharmaceuticals.[16] Each vehicle will consist of an orbital module and a microgravity capsule, operating at an altitude of 300 miles (480 km) for a period of one to six months.[10][16] The company aims for each satellite to be able to return from space, enable its refurbishment, and then for it to be returned to service on-orbit.[16]

ForgeStar-0 was to be the first Welsh-built satellite and was launched by Virgin Orbit on its inaugural mission from Newquay Airport (Spaceport Cornwall), on the first ever satellite launch from the United Kingdom.[13][17] This first satellite was not designed to survive reentry but was to act as a prototype to validate on-orbit manufacturing capabilities, testing the deployment of a low cost return technology.[18] As part of this first mission, the company was to work in partnership with US based Cosmic Shielding, to test the survivability of a new composite radiation shield material known as "Plasteel".[18] Monitoring of the material was to be provided by on board cameras.[18] As ForgeStar-0 would return from orbit, Lumi Space was planned to trial laser tracking technology to monitor the satellite's descent through the atmosphere.[19]

ForgeStar-0 launched on 9 January 2023 from Spaceport Cornwall. The launching rocket was the LauncherOne of Virgin Orbit. The launch ended in failure and ForgeStar-0 did not achieve orbit.[20]

ForgeStar-1 will be four times larger than ForgeStar-0 and will be the first of Space Forge's satellites to be designed for reentry, returning from orbit to Earth off the coast of the United Kingdom. It is hoped ForgeStar-1 will launch in 2023.[2][13]

ForgeStar-2 will be larger still, and will aim to produce materials with a value exceeding the cost of the launch.[2] The company hopes to maintain a cadence of 10–12 flights a year.[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Will the next generation of British Manufacturing happen in Outer Space?". Development Bank of Wales. 22 May 2020. Archived from the original on 11 July 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d "The Engineer – Out of this world: How Welsh firm Space Forge plans to take manufacturing off-planet". The Engineer. 13 June 2022. Archived from the original on 11 July 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  3. ^ Baker, Hannah (17 April 2020). "Bristol space company plans to expand into Wales after landing £250k". Business Live. Archived from the original on 11 July 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  4. ^ "[Withdrawn] Government funds UK companies at the forefront of space innovation". GOV.UK. 8 March 2022. Archived from the original on 11 July 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  5. ^ Williams, Alun (10 December 2020). "UKSA's National Space Innovation Programme funds 21 UK organisations". Electronics Weekly. Archived from the original on 18 December 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  6. ^ "Space Forge raises seed round". Development Bank of Wales. 7 August 2021. Archived from the original on 8 October 2021. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  7. ^ "Type One Ventures raises investment target". SpaceNews. 15 December 2021. Archived from the original on 21 July 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  8. ^ a b "Virgin Galactic Snags NASA Chief of Staff as CEO". socalTECH.com. 17 May 2010. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
  9. ^ a b Arthur, Andrew (9 July 2021). "Bristol space firm backed to develop manufacturing satellite". Business Live. Archived from the original on 11 July 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  10. ^ a b "UK space firm secures £7.6m to fund trial of factory satellites". the Guardian. 18 December 2021. Archived from the original on 11 July 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  11. ^ a b Barry, Sion (27 September 2021). "Cardiff space tech firm developing reusable satellites gets major funding boost". Business Live. Archived from the original on 9 October 2021. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  12. ^ Agency, European Space. "Microgravity on demand with Earth return through ESA's Boost". phys.org. Archived from the original on 11 July 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  13. ^ a b c d "Space: First Welsh satellite set to be launched later in 2022". BBC News. 11 July 2022. Archived from the original on 11 July 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  14. ^ Oliver, Matt; Field, Matthew (18 June 2024). "Nato's $1bn fund backs British start-up to build space factories". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  15. ^ "SpaceForge Unveils New Welsh Facilities For The Development Of Their Returnable, Reusable Smallsat Platform – SatNews". news.satnews.com. Archived from the original on 21 July 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  16. ^ a b c "Space Forge Is Going To Make Smallsat Return From Space… Far Easier – SatNews". news.satnews.com. Archived from the original on 11 July 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  17. ^ Kelvey, Jon (11 March 2022). "Space Forge and Virgin Orbit aim to launch first satellite from UK this summer". Archived from the original on 25 June 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  18. ^ a b c "Welsh satellite company partners with US firm to test new space radiation technology in first launch". Nation.Cymru. 27 April 2022. Archived from the original on 11 July 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  19. ^ "First satellite made in Wales to be launched into space this summer". ITV News. 28 June 2022. Archived from the original on 11 July 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  20. ^ Graham, William (9 January 2023). "Virgin Orbit fails on first mission from the UK with Start Me Up". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
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