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‍As an innovative company on a mission to make space work for humanity across the globe, Space Forge’s expansion into the US is a key strategic move that could propel us to global success. As newly appointed Director of Strategy and Innovation at Space Forge US, here’s my take on a new space revolution. 

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We’re on the precipice of a clean manufacturing revolution

I’ve spent 16 years working for a parabolic flight company in the US, developing applications, procedures and processes for study in lunar, martian and zero gravity environments. This ranges from biomedical and alloys to pharma and material science… And then also overseeing the actual research occurring during flights in the aft part of the aircraft. 

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With all of that said, I can spot an incredible opportunity when I see one! 

There’s so much opportunity in the wide variety of initiatives that Space Forge is undertaking – and so many different areas where the company itself is going to make such a huge difference, and I’m excited to be a part of that. 

I’ve participated in over 250 parabolic flight missions, which gives me a unique perspective in terms of seeing how research and various materials, items and even humans will act in space. It’s often not what you might expect. 

I think if you’re going to be operating or manufacturing in a different environment, then actually having hands-on experience in that particular environment gives you a much needed alternative perspective on how the equipment will behave, or how it can best be utilised. With Space Forge’s range of potential applications, I’m excited to use my micro-gravity experience to assist the company in expanding, growing and providing even greater benefits for humanity. 

As part of my role in the parabolic flight environment and space, I also developed a commercial research program, taking it from a government run entity and making it commercially available to essentially everyone on a global platform. I think the ability to take that model and then apply it to Space Forge’s initiatives is critical to our success – allowing us to enhance opportunities in research, manufacturing, supply chain and delivery. 

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Space Forge is poised to accomplish some incredible things with in-space manufacturing.

What happens next – once advanced materials are brought back to earth – is really exciting. At the moment, Space Forge is focused on production of new and improved materials for semiconductor chips (a $520.1 billion US dollar industry). These advanced materials, when manufactured in space’s unique environment, stand to improve efficiencies, reduce energy consumption and generate cost savings across multiple industries. 

With a world gone digital, the semiconductor industry is set to exceed $1 trillion US dollars by 2032 – for Space Forge and its mission, the sky's the limit in that regard! 

For the company, in-space manufacturing represents much more than that though – just using the microgravity environment (in parabolic flight) and space environments create an entirely new realm in which alloys, pharma, life science and biomedical materials perform in a different way. When you mix advanced materials in a microgravity environment you often have a more stable or different concentration. Just imagine if we can bioprint a knee meniscus or an ear or other biomedical solutions and then bring them back down to earth for use in medical applications; we can manufacture purer, more sustainable materials that will benefit not only our people, but our planet too.

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New headquarters, manufacturing facilities and manufacturing…

From a strategy and innovation point of view, Space Forge’s expansion into the US space ecosystem is a great move – we will be able to forge greater networks with the government, universities and corporations. So, as we expand, so will our network, giving us a larger reach across the US, as well as global support for the ongoing operations that Space Forge has already instituted. 

We have multiple organisations relying on us to have operations up and running as soon as possible, so establishing solid physical infrastructure to best serve them is crucial. 

We’re setting up our initial semiconductor research and production headquarters in Maryland, where there's a rapidly growing tech and startup hub – opportunities aplenty to collaborate through key partnerships and contracts. We’re also considering  Florida and other states as  launch, recovery, and refurbishment locations for other key areas of business operations.

The new age of in-space manufacturing is key to developing novel products and applications across so many sectors. I’m proud and excited to join Space Forge, as we stand on the precipice of an incredible journey to make space work for humanity.