MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has chosen Astral Supplies, Inc. in Mountain View, Calif., to conduct parabolic flight assessments to validate a microgravity-assisted crystal development furnace designed for silicon semiconductor manufacturing in house. The hassle is a part of a NASA Small Enterprise Innovation Analysis (SBIR) IGNITE Part II contract and helps the CHIPS for America initiative beneath the CHIPS and Science Act of 2021.
The corporate goals to make use of house’s low gravity surroundings to handle challenges in semiconductor crystal development, a course of essential to producing high-performance electronics. Parabolic flights, which simulate microgravity for brief intervals, will permit Astral Supplies to evaluate key furnace applied sciences earlier than future demonstrations on the Worldwide House Station or different commercial spacecraft.
Astral Supplies will take a look at the furnace’s capacity to restrict molten metallic in microgravity, consider its cooling system, and validate thermal fashions. The experiment may even assess {hardware} performance, together with an arc melting system, cameras, and sensors. Whereas the first objective of the flight is {hardware} validation, researchers will analyze silicon samples synthesized in the course of the take a look at to determine baseline efficiency metrics for future space-based manufacturing.
Related: NASA names pair of ‘Watts on the Moon Challenge’ awardees
The corporate doesn’t anticipate vital enhancements in crystal high quality from the preliminary flight however expects the information to refine future experiments. Key metrics embody furnace operability, repeatability, and the correlation between gravitational circumstances and crystal formation. NASA will independently consider pre- and post-flight silicon samples to evaluate any materials enhancements.
The furnace should be able to heating silicon to at the very least 1,420 levels Celsius for brief durations in microgravity. It can additionally incorporate real-time monitoring by way of sensors and cameras, comprise molten silicon at a set level, and produce spherical silicon samples.
The undertaking is scheduled to run by way of February 2026. Work will happen at Astral Supplies’ facility in Mountain View, Calif. Inside 90 days of the flight, the corporate will ship a remaining report detailing furnace performance and classes discovered to NASA.
