Besxar Tests Orbital Chip Factory on 12 SpaceX Falcon 9 Flights
Besxar tests orbital chipmaking on SpaceX Falcon 9 boosters after raising nearly $14 million, while Starship remains key to scaling wafer returns to Earth.
Summary
As of September 9, 2026, Besxar plans to prototype an orbital semiconductor factory across 12 SpaceX Falcon 9 booster flights, using space vacuum to produce precursors for advanced chips without massive pressurized clean rooms. Founded by former OpenAI staffer Ashley Pilipiszyn, the startup has raised nearly $14 million, including a $9 million seed round led by Dauntless Ventures and Overture VC. Falcon 9 boosters made 163 space and Earth round trips in 2025 and more than 100 in 2026. Two small fabship canisters flew on a July Starlink mission, surviving launch, shielding wafer samples from contamination and exposing them to vacuum. Flown wafers had less particulate matter than terrestrial controls, although one canister's flight data system malfunctioned and remains under investigation.
Besxar will spend two years testing wafer heating, then depositing one material and later two, before seeking qualification samples for leading chipmakers. It targets wafers for advanced power regulating chips used in data centers, robots and electric vehicles, eventually scaling from hundreds to thousands per fab. Pilipiszyn approached Elon Musk's SpaceX three years ago about Starship flights, then adopted booster payloads to reduce technical risk while the next generation rocket remains in development. Larger fabs and meaningful product returns depend on cheaper launch capacity from Starship or new rockets from Rocket Lab and Stoke Space. United Semiconductors and Space Forge are pursuing similar space based chipmaking. Besxar takes its name from beskar, the Star Wars metal used for Mandalorian armor.
Positives
- Nearly $14 million raised, including a $9 million seed round, gives Besxar funding for two years of orbital manufacturing tests.
- Two fabship canisters survived a July Starlink launch, protected wafer samples and successfully exposed them to space vacuum.
- Flown wafers contained less particulate matter than terrestrial controls, supporting Besxar's central manufacturing premise.
- 12 planned Falcon 9 booster flights provide a repeatable route for testing progressively more complex wafer processing.
- Hundreds and eventually thousands of wafers per fab could supply power regulating chips for data centers, robots and electric vehicles.
Risks & concerns
- One fabship's flight data system malfunctioned during the July mission and remains under investigation.
- Only launch survival, contamination protection and vacuum exposure are proven, while heating and material deposition still require orbital validation.
- Meaningful product volumes cannot return to Earth until affordable launch and recovery capacity expands.
- Starship remains in development, making Besxar's larger fabs and high volume ambitions dependent on an unfinished rocket.
- United Semiconductors and Space Forge are pursuing the same space manufacturing opportunity as transport constraints remain unresolved.