Tech news in 3 minutes

Besxar completes inaugural flight with SpaceX

12 h ago

**Besxar completes inaugural SpaceX flight, validating in-space semiconductor manufacturing technology for compound semiconductor wafers** Washington DC-based Besxar, a developer of advanced semiconductor materials manufacturing in space, announced on 11 September 2026 the successful completion of its Flight-1 ‘Mission Asimov’ aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The mission, which launched on 5 July from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, saw two of Besxar’s reusable ‘Clipper-class’ canisters—called Fabships—reach approximately 71 miles altitude (past the internationally recognized edge of space) and return intact after the booster landed. The entire flight lasted about 11 minutes. This was the first flight carrying custom wafer cartridges, power, avionics, and printed-circuit hardware designed and built in-house by Besxar, all qualifying on the first attempt. The mission carried gallium nitride (GaN)-on-sapphire, undoped silicon, and bare sapphire wafer samples from Besxar, plus gallium arsenide (GaAs) and aluminum indium arsenide antimonide (AlInAsSb) wafers from academic partners at the University of Virginia and the University of Texas at Austin. The primary test objective was to verify the canister’s ability to admit vacuum—effectively functioning as a cleanroom—while maintaining structural integrity, preventing contamination, and safely carrying wafers. Post-flight analysis confirmed no cracking, warping, or visible damage to any samples. Substrates from university partners are undergoing independent material-level analysis for vacuum exposure effects. Besxar’s data collection system performed well, capturing pressure, acceleration, thermal, vibration, and shock data throughout the mission. One canister had a data recording anomaly, which is under review ahead of the next flight. Flight-1 is the first of 12 contracted missions under Besxar’s launch agreement with SpaceX. The company raised a $10.3m seed round led by Dauntless Ventures, with participation from Overture VC, Keymaker VC, and others, bringing total funding to $14.7m. Besxar plans to iterate quickly toward Flight-2, advancing toward fully autonomous in-space compound semiconductor manufacturing.