‘Space Factory’ satellite can create advanced technology that cuts billions of pounds from energy bills | Science, Climate & Technology News

A company starting by “Two Blokes in A Cardiff Garage” will launch a space factory that changes the game that can start a new industrial revolution.

Space Forge will send prototype manufacturing satellites in the coming weeks from the Industrial Park in the city to the US, where it will be sent to orbit in A Spacex rocket.

Sky News is given exclusive access to the company’s ‘clean space’ to watch the engineer to do the final check.

Forgestar-1 has been loaded with raw materials to make a new generation of super efficient semiconductor chips that cannot be produced on the surface of the planet.

Joshua Western, one of the founders of the company, said: “This is the next industrial revolution but in space, it is not on earth.”

Semiconductors are found in almost all electronic technology. They are currently made of silicon crystals, but the material has a ceiling of performance.

However, in micro -weight and space vacuum, it is possible to make crystals from a new mixture of chemical compounds that will allow computer chips to work faster while consuming fewer power.

“We can reduce the energy consumed where they are deployed by more than 50%,” Joshua said.

“In England alone, we spoke billions of pounds saved in energy bills only.

“That is in terms of consumer cellular data, but also correct data applications (energy) hungry – artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and up to people who use chatgpt at home.”

The prototype will test the process of making material, and has been given a further manufacturing license in the first orbit by the Civil Aviation Authority.

If successful, the next mission will become real, produce pure crystals that can be cloned on earth to meet large demand.

The company calculates high -level materials for electronics can be worth up to £ 45 million per kilogram, far beyond the cost of launching the rocket.

But to safely bring valuable cargo back to this planet, the company must design a lightweight heat shield that is able to withstand high temperatures when plunging through the atmosphere.

This is called Pridwen, named from Raja Arthur’s shield, and folded, origami style, into a small space to be needed.

Then it appears like an umbrella to protect the satellite and slow it so that it gently watering in the ocean, where it can be taken.

Forgestar-1 is a pioneer.

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British satellite application Catapult, which supports start-up space, says everything from stronger metal alloys to strong cancer drugs in the future can be made in outer space.

Nafeesa Dajda, head of the mission in the Ketapel, said the British led.

“We can communicate from anywhere on earth using satellite technology,” he said.

“There is an opportunity now to think about how we use space in a different way and a unique environment where space gives us, that the micro environment, means we can do things that we cannot do on earth.

“So how big is this for Britain? Great.

“We estimate the opportunity worth around £ 20 billion for the British economy for the next 10 years.”

At Space Forge HQ, the team will really want to see their satellite leave for the US after years of development. This is a story that can come directly from Silicon Valley.

“This shows what some people start in a garage in the suburbs when they are bored one night in the pub can actually do it,” Joshua said.

“There is optimism with current technology (in the UK) that we don’t always have.

“There is a new life in the industrial base, especially around the technique, and it is separated from all the challenges he has today.”