Besxar recently flew its first mission, demonstrating that its future semiconductor-manufacturing tech works above the Kármán line.
Vacuum cleaner: Semiconductors need to be built in a vacuum. On Earth, manufacturers invest billions of dollars in pumps to create that favorable environment, CEO and founder Ashley Pilipiszyn told Payload. In space, vacuum is free.
- Besxar is aiming to capitalize on these benefits by manufacturing semiconductors in orbit that are higher-quality and lower-cost than those made terrestrially, then returning the materials to Earth to sell.
- The company has raised a $9.35M seed round led by Dauntless Ventures, co-led by Overture VC, with additional participation from 645 Ventures, Singh Capital Partners, Koru Capital, and Plum Alley Ventures.
Flight details: Besxar’s first suborbital mission flew July 5 on a SpaceX Falcon 9, alongside a bunch of Starlinks. The mission carried semiconductor wafers from Besxar, as well as wafers for researchers at the University of Virginia and the University of Texas at Austin.
The mission provided flight heritage for Besxar-designed hardware, and proved that the company’s canisters could allow vacuum to enter while keeping out contamination—including atomic oxygen that’s in LEO. It also showed that Besxar hardware could keep the semiconductor wafers safe throughout the flight, including re-entry.
“If we can’t keep it clean and protect the wafers, nothing else matters,” Pilipiszyn said.
Return trip: Unlike many other companies that are manufacturing in-orbit, Besxar is outsourcing the reentry tech to its launch provider. Besxar’s recent mission reentered aboard the same Falcon 9 it launched on. When the company expands to do longer in-space manufacturing missions, Besxar’s canisters will be integrated into vehicles such as Starship for launch, in-space work, and re-entry.
What’s next: The mission was the first of 12 suborbital flights that SpaceX is under contract to fly for Besxar. Pilipiszyn said the second mission is expected to launch before the end of the year.
AnySignal Lands Spot on Apex Bus Menu
RF startup AnySignal formalized its partnership with bus manufacturer Apex, allowing customers to add its AnyLink network and radios to Apex’s platforms.
Europe’s Space Leaders are Unhappy with the Status Quo
ASD Eurospace released a report this week built on anonymized interviews with 15 space industry CEOs. The results showed many are disgruntled with the setup of Europe’s space sector.
Astroscale Selects Isar to Launch Debris Removal Mission
Astroscale Japan selected Germany’s Isar Aerospace to launch its ADRAS-J2 mission to capture and remove a piece of large orbital debris.
Launch Concerns Cast a Shadow Over SmallSat 2026
Unless something changes in the launch market—and soon—the space industry might be running 100mph into a brick wall.
Eclipse Space, a startup building satellite platforms for constellations, unveiled details of its first three satellite platforms today, each targeting a different in-space capability—direct-to-device comms, high-throughput broadband connectivity, and in-orbit compute.
The announcement comes just three months after Eclipse emerged from stealth with plans to launch its first demo mission in 2027—now 2028, according to CEO Derek Huerta.
Meet Eclipse: Like many space startups, its founders are former SpaceX engineers with a different take on the industry’s traditional product development roadmap. But instead of centering the business around a piece of novel technology, the company is attempting to build a way for companies to launch and operate satellite constellations with ease.
Keep reading