Besxar tests orbital semiconductor fabships on SpaceX Falcon 9

Besxar Tests Orbital Fabships on Falcon 9

Besxar, a space startup founded by former OpenAI employee Ashley Pilipiszyn, strapped small prototype semiconductor canisters onto SpaceX Falcon 9 boosters during an initial July in-space test mission.

The company's two Clipper Class Fabships rode together on a Falcon 9 with 29 Starlink satellites on July 6, 2026. For this first flight, they carried terrestrial wafers to prove the canisters could survive launch and reentry without degrading samples.

Pilipiszyn told TechCrunch the flown samples were the cleanest and had the least particulate matter compared with ordinary non-flown terrestrial wafers after the mission's booster returned from space.

The test confirmed the canisters could survive launch and reentry forces, shield samples from contamination, and expose wafers to orbital vacuum, according to Besxar's initial results.

Besxar is investigating a malfunction in one canister's flight data system during that first July mission, though the overall hardware performed as intended according to the startup's engineers.

Aims for Space-Made Ultra-Pure Semiconductor Wafers

Besxar's thesis is that orbital vacuum offers even cleaner conditions than terrestrial cleanrooms for producing ultra-pure advanced semiconductor wafer substrates. Pilipiszyn says Besxar will eventually supply chipmakers with wafers for advanced power regulators in data centers, robots, and electric vehicles.

Besxar has raised about $14 million, including a $9 million seed round led by Dauntless Ventures and Overture VC with additional backing from Bee Partners and Union Labs.

Founded in 2023 by Pilipiszyn, Besxar holds a U.S. Defense Department contract and also participates in Nvidia's Inception accelerator program. The company also signed a 12-mission agreement with SpaceX, first announced on October 28, 2025, to fly its test Fabships.

Besxar intends to supply leading chipmakers with these ultra-pure materials for advanced power regulation in data centers, robots, electric vehicles, quantum computing, and critical defense systems.

The startup is named after beskar, the fictional metal in Star Wars Mandalorian armor, reflecting its focus on resilient space-rated hardware for harsh orbital and launch environments.

Scaling Depends on Cheaper Rocket Launches

Besxar plans to spend roughly two years refining its Fabships before moving production to larger orbital spacecraft such as SpaceX's Starship or new alternative heavy-lift vehicles.

Cheaper launch costs will determine whether orbital wafer production can ever compete with terrestrial semiconductor manufacturing on cost at commercial scale. That will require SpaceX's Starship to fly often or rivals such as Rocket Lab and Stoke Space to introduce reusable launchers.

The company must also prove wafers can withstand strong launch vibrations and the heat of reentry, and solve how to return finished products from orbit at commercial volumes.

The initial July flight did not attempt in-space manufacturing and instead carried terrestrial wafers to de-risk the hardware of its Fabships. Later Fabships are expected to produce ultra-pure substrates in orbit while the company completes iterative testing under SpaceX's 12-flight agreement.

The startup remains privately held and unlisted, with operations based in the United States and customers across commercial aerospace, advanced defense, and emerging quantum computing industries.