“When you think of space, you think of spacecraft, you think of launch vehicles. Most people don’t think of Vermont, of these chips that are made right here,” Hall said.
“When you think of space, you think of spacecraft, you think of launch vehicles. Most people don’t think of Vermont, of these chips that are made right here,” Hall said.
“When you think of space, you think of spacecraft, you think of launch vehicles. Most people don’t think of Vermont, of these chips that are made right here,” Hall said.
Could Vermont technology help power the next mission to space?
Evan Hall, a Vermonter and Senior Director of GlobalFoundries aerospace, defense and critical infrastructure end market, said he can’t speak to specific projects but that the semiconductor manufacturer is ready for whatever comes next.
“When you think of space, you think of spacecraft, you think of launch vehicles. Most people don’t think of Vermont, of these chips that are made right here,” Hall said. “They certainly could be on any space mission you could imagine.”
Right now, inside the GlobalFoundries facility in Essex Junction, Hall said scientists and engineers are developing the critical semiconductor technology that supports space exploration.
“In space, most of these are uncrewed missions. These missions need everything from motor drivers to radio frequency communication to communicate with Earth to processing AI,” Hall said. “So, we built the technology that powers those missions.”
Yet, before a chip can support a mission, Hall said it needs to be tested in some of space’s most extreme conditions.
Hall said that testing is done by mission partners who send the chips on trips to space.
“There are not only extreme temperatures, but lots of high-energy particles, particles that comes from the sun for example; these cause disruption of electronics, and that can’t happen when a satellite is launched,” he said. “So chips and space have to work right the first time for many years, error-free. Those are the technologies that we built right here.”
While Hall couldn’t say where exactly these chips will end up, he did add that he’s proud to work alongside the around 1,800 Vermonters at GlobalFoundries who are helping push the boundaries on Earth and up in space, all from the Green Mountain State.
“I’m very proud to be a Vermonter. I’ve been working here since 1995 and to be delivering these technologies today that go into space,” he said.
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