Space Forge launches first in-orbit manufacturing satellite

ForgeStar-1 launched onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as part of the Transport 14 rideshare mission, taking off from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base on June 22^nd. In the hours that followed, the satellite made contact with Space Forge Mission Operations Centre in Cardiff. It will now go through a full health check before the next milestone of in-space manufacturing gets under way.

Space Forge plans to harness the unique properties of space, such as microgravity and ultra-clean vacuum, to manufacture small quantities of high-value materials that cannot be produced on Earth. These include exotic alloys for aerospace and high-purity crystals for semiconductors. Despite its technology being unproven in orbit, the company announced a £22.6m Series A funding round in May 2025.  

According to Space Forge, last week’s launch marks the culmination of more than four years of design, testing and regulatory milestones. Founded in 2018 by Josh Western and Richard Bacon while working at Thales Alenia Space, the startup’s progress was initially hampered by Covid. It then suffered a major setback when its pathfinder satellite – ForgeStar0 – was lost onboard the Virgin Orbit mission failure of 2023.