The achievement marks a world-first for commercial orbital manufacturing and positions ForgeStar-1 as the first free-flying commercial semiconductor manufacturing platform ever operated in space.
It builds on Space Forge’s earlier milestone as the only organisation in the UK and Europe licensed to conduct manufacturing activities in orbit.
The successful plasma demonstration confirms that the extreme conditions required for gas-phase crystal growth, a critical process in semiconductor production, can be created and precisely controlled on an autonomous commercial spacecraft.
While similar science has previously been carried out on the International Space Station, this is the first time the capability has been demonstrated by a dedicated commercial satellite.
Space Forge chief executive and co-founder Joshua Western said the result represented a fundamental shift in how advanced materials could be produced.
“Generating plasma on orbit proves that the essential environment for advanced crystal growth can be achieved on a dedicated, commercial satellite,” Western said. “It opens the door to an entirely new manufacturing frontier.”
The company is targeting wide and ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor materials, including gallium nitride, silicon carbide, aluminium nitride and diamond. These materials underpin critical technologies such as power electronics, advanced communications, quantum systems, defence platforms and high-performance computing.
On Earth, their production is limited by defects, contamination and thermal instability during the crystal growth process.
Space, however, offers a radically different manufacturing environment. The absence of convection in microgravity, combined with an ultra-high-quality vacuum with minimal nitrogen contamination and highly stable thermal conditions, allows for the growth of semiconductor crystals that could be orders of magnitude cleaner than those produced on Earth.
The plasma ignition aboard ForgeStar-1 is the first step in testing how these advantages translate into real-world material performance. The satellite will now conduct a series of experiments to map plasma behaviour in microgravity, gathering data that will directly inform the design and operation of future orbital manufacturing missions.
As ForgeStar-1 enters its natural orbital decay phase, its trajectory will be closely monitored using onboard systems and external support from the Science and Technology Facilities Council.
The mission will conclude with a controlled atmospheric re-entry, representing a world-first test of safe, planned satellite demise and a key step towards future reusable and returnable space manufacturing missions.
Looking ahead, Space Forge plans to combine orbital crystal growth with terrestrial manufacturing. Space-grown crystal “seeds” will be returned to Earth and scaled up at the Centre for Integrative Semiconductor Materials, creating a hybrid production model that complements existing supply chains.
The company said the goal is to produce semiconductor materials of a quality not achievable through Earth-based manufacturing alone with the potential to significantly improve efficiency, performance and resilience across industries critical to long-term economic and technological advancement.