Semiconductors & Chipmaking · Projected milestone
A deep-space probe rebuilds its processor
8% by 2100 · including earlier years
The year is an editorial timing estimate. The percentage applies to occurrence by the stated deadline. These estimates are not calibrated odds.
Beyond five astronomical units, an uncrewed spacecraft fabricates a replacement programmable processor containing at least 1,000 switching devices from inventoried precursor materials, verifies its operation, and uses it for primary navigation or communications for 90 days; the device may not be a premanufactured spare or merely a reconfigured existing chip.
Explore this milestone on the interactive mapWhat the forecast means
Milestone stage: in flight remanufacturing demonstration
Space-chip design and space-processing studies exist; in-flight processor remanufacture does not.
Timing window: 2055–2100. An editorial range, not a statistical confidence interval.
Completion criteria: Beyond five astronomical units, an uncrewed spacecraft fabricates a replacement programmable processor containing at least 1,000 switching devices from inventoried precursor materials, verifies its operation, and uses it for primary navigation or communications for 90 days; the device may not be a premanufactured spare or merely a reconfigured existing chip. Resolve only after inspectable dated observations and independent assessment meet every stated criterion; a simulation, announcement or prototype lacking these thresholds does not resolve the event.
This page describes a forecast, rather than an achieved result. Read the methodology and assumptions.
Built on
Led to
Sources & evidence
- Microgravity Manufacturing of Semiconductors & Microelectronics 2023
NASA workshop material discusses semiconductor processing in space; it does not demonstrate an onboard chip factory, raw-material closure, or self-repairing deep-space electronics.
- High Performance Spaceflight Computing
HPSC develops fault-tolerant spaceflight processors, with Earth-based fabrication. Radiation tolerance and onboard computation are different from manufacturing a replacement processor in flight.
Astra editorial synthesis; cited researchers retain credit for their work
Record reviewed 2026-10-18