The United States first grew semiconductor crystals in low-Earth orbit as part of a Skylab mission in 1973, according to a fact sheet from Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., who is leading the House version of the bill. More than 20 years later, China became the first country to make integrated circuits using crystals grown in space by way of a recoverable satellite in 1996.

While Section 48D can be interpreted to include chips made in low-Earth orbit, it does not mention them explicitly. U.S. lawmakers are looking to clarify this to drum up domestic investment and remain competitive with other countries. Perhaps most notably, China already has developed chipmaking capacity at its Tiangong Space Station orbiting the Earth’s surface.

Budd said the new bill gives manufacturers the “green light” to develop microgravity semiconductor technology, which has been proven to yield better materials compared to terrestrial production due to the absence of gravity and closer proximity to the sun.

“Several American companies are already investing in the equipment, launch capacity and advanced chips manufacturing, we already have momentum, and we cannot afford to stall,” Budd said in a statement.

As the space economy evolves from research to industry, the U.S. is looking to maintain its technological edge. Currently, it shares the International Space Station with space agencies from Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada, but military research is prohibited on-site.

The ISS is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2030 and private companies are investing in successor commercial platforms, according to DelBene’s fact sheet. If these platforms are not operational soon, she warned that China could have the only operational space station capable of developing chip materials. This comes amid a global shortage of silicon driven by data center expansion and the artificial intelligence boom.

“We’ve made tremendous progress ramping up domestic capacity through the CHIPS and Science Act, but the semiconductor race is constantly evolving,” DelBene said in a statement. “The next frontier of chipmaking is space.”

Earlier this year, Aegis Aerospace agreed to partner with United Semiconductors to develop an in-space semiconductor manufacturing platform. In December, Space Forge successfully generated plasma in orbit, showcasing that conditions for gas-phase crystal growth can be created and controlled on an autonomous platform in low-Earth orbit.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which had one of the largest initial public offerings this week and began trading on the stock market Friday, plans to deploy AI data centers in space using chips made at its upcoming Terafab facility in Texas.

By: DocMemory
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