Space Forge is on a mission to lead the next industrial revolution by harnessing space.

The UK-based startup is developing a fully returnable satellite platform designed for manufacturing superior materials in orbit to enable large-scale emissions reduction on Earth. These satellites will leverage a zero-gravity, zero-pollution production environment- with high-efficiency semiconductors as one of its first use cases

Why we invested:

• The climate case: global IT energy use to hit 20% of global emissions by 2030. Space Forge’s in-space manufactured semiconductors can reduce energy usage by 75% - by harnessing unique space conditions of microgravity, vacuum and low temperatures.

• The business case: semiconductor production on earth is reaching its technological limits. In-orbit manufacturing can bring about an 88% increase in computational efficiency, as well as a 50% reduction in costs compared to production on Earth. Space Forge’s technology is highly scalable and is expected to have enough manufacturing capacity to cover 5G networks in Germany and the UK in the next 5 years. The returnable satellite platform on its own is a technology with several sizable market-changing opportunities.

• The team: CEO Joshua Western has worked in the space industry for over a decade. He worked closely with key government and industry stakeholders at the beginning of his career at Thales Space and later at the UK Space Agency. Co-founder and CTO Andrew Bacon is a senior expert in designing and launching satellites. Since 2009, he has been working for industry leaders like Clyde Space, SEA and Thales.

Website: www.spaceforge.com