Cardiff-based Space Forge, leaders of in-space manufacturing with a focus on producing semiconductors - the materials that power many modern electronic devices - in microgravity, where the environment enables the creation of materials with properties that cannot be achieved on Earth. The company will receive £10 million from the European Space Agency’s 

General Support Technology Programme, funded through the UK Space Agency’s investment in ESA, which will support a mission to design, build, launch and return ‘Pridwen’, a new fold-out heat shield system built to protect spacecraft returning to Earth. Named after the legendary shield of King Arthur, Pridwen is designed to ensure safe atmospheric re-entry and satellite recovery. 

Traditional heat shields are usually fixed, rigid structures or tiles attached to a spacecraft, which can add weight, take up space and be difficult to reuse. Pridwen is designed to deploy during re-entry, creating a larger protective surface that helps shield the spacecraft from extreme heat and pressure while making the system lighter, easier to recover and more practical to use again. The mission will help bring Pridwen to full commercial readiness, enabling frequent and reliable return of cargo from space which is critical to the growth of the in-space manufacturing industry.

Joshua Western, CEO & Co-founder of Space Forge: “We’re thrilled to be awarded the GSTP funding to help bring Pridwen to commercial readiness. This proprietary technology is key to enabling the safe return of our materials to Earth, which in turn unlocks the future of in-space manufacturing. With our ForgeStar-1 mission we proved we can create the right manufacturing environment for next generation semiconductor materials in space, with this newly funded mission, we can prove our ability to deliver products to market.” 

Space Minister Liz Lloyd said: “Today’s investment shows our commitment to keeping Britain at the forefront of the fast-growing space sector. Space Forge is developing technology that could make bringing materials back from space more like a regular delivery service than a one-off mission. We are proud to back a British company leading the way in a new area of space technology.”

This announcement follows the success of Space Forge’s first orbital mission, The Forge Awakens, during which the company successfully generated plasma aboard its ForgeStar-1 satellite. The achievement marked a world-first for commercial in-space manufacturing and demonstrated that the conditions required to produce next-generation semiconductor materials can be created and controlled in low Earth orbit.

As the first free-flying commercial semiconductor manufacturing platform ever operated in space, ForgeStar®-1 provided proof that the conditions to grow advanced materials can be created in orbit. The next challenge is returning those materials to Earth reliably and repeatedly. Pridwen is the critical technology that enables that next step. The newly funded mission will demonstrate safe, routine return capability, creating the missing link between manufacturing in space and commercial delivery on Earth.

By combining orbital crystal growth with terrestrial processing, Space Forge aims to establish a new hybrid manufacturing model. Space-grown semiconductor seeds will be returned to Earth and scaled, enabling production of materials with performance characteristics that cannot be achieved through conventional Earth-based processes. Successful demonstration of Pridwen will provide proof of concept for reliable return and recovery, paving the way for commercial in-space manufacturing services and the routine delivery of high-value materials from orbit to customers on Earth.

Click here to learn more about Space Forge's Manufacturing Capabilities