One of our Mechanical Engineering students, Joel (who recently graduated), carried out an industrial placement at Space Forge. The satellite that he helped to build during his placement year has been launched into orbit. This is an exciting milestone for our student to have hardware that he helped to machine and assemble in low earth orbit before he even graduates!
We talked to Joel to find out more:
Who is Space Forge?
Space Forge is a semiconductor production company looking to utilise Low Earth Orbit to create semiconductors with an efficiency multiple times better than terrestrially made semiconductors. They are achieving this by creating returnable and reusable 'space factories', a specialised satellite platform known as the ForgeStar.
What was your industrial placement role at Space Forge?
At first I worked as a systems engineering intern conducting research into 3D printable space rated polymers for a deployable and retractable solar array system. I then moved into the manufacturing team where I helped assemble the satellite in an ISO 7 cleanroom over the course of several months. I was then trained on a CNC mill and became an integral part of the manufacturing team, producing parts that would end up on the satellite’s final assembly.
What was the process involved in building the satellite?
The process of building and assembling a satellite is long and complex. First the design team finalises the whole system design, parts are then acquired from suppliers or in-house machinists and organised into subsystems. Meanwhile the manufacturing team would have created an in depth assembly plan, clearly stating where every individual bolt, cable or component goes and in what order. After cleaning and organising all of the acquired parts they are sorted into separate boxes, ready to move into the cleanroom when that stage of the assembly starts. Each subsystem is then assembled individually, carefully following the assembly plan and ensuring every single turn of a screwdriver is recorded. Then bit by bit over many long and exhausting shifts the satellite is carefully pieced together.
What was your involvement in this project?
I was lucky enough to work within a close knit, well run team of manufacturing engineers. I was treated as any other engineer in the team and supported and even led some assembly shifts over the build period. This meant I was responsible for assembling parts of the satellite that is now in orbit!
During my role as a machinist I also fabricated several parts on the CNC mill from scratch that were used throughout the satellites subsystems.
How many people were working on this project?
On the creation of ForgeStar1, the whole company! Approximately 70. The manufacturing team however consisted of around 8-9 engineers working to assemble the satellite.
What's the purpose of the satellite and what's it going to do?
The ForgeStar1 is a 'Technology Demonstrator', meaning it is looking to prove that the future technologies do in fact work in low earth orbit. These technologies once proven will then be further developed into creating a working 'Space Factory' to create those super efficient semiconductors.
When & where was the satellite launched?
The satellite was launched aboard Space X's Transporter 14 Launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Monday, June 23, at 2:25 PM PDT (21:25 UTC)
