Supply-chain awards from Commerce Dept. aims to expand critical chip production
NewsNovember 25, 2024
WASHINGTON. The U.S. Department of Commerce finalized two separate awards under the CHIPS and Science Act's Incentives Program’s Funding Opportunity for Commercial Fabrication Facilities: The Commerce Dept. awarded BAE Systems Electronic Systems (a business unit of BAE Systems) as much as $35.5 million in direct funding and awarded Rocket Lab (the parent company of space power provider SolAero Technologies Corp.) as much as $23.9 million in direct funding.
The department is finalizing $35.5 million to BAE Systems, which is tasked with quadrupling production in a New Hampshire-based fab for key semiconductor chips used in F-35 fighter jets and commercial satellites; the Commerce Dept. announcement stated that the investment will cut the company’s planned modernization timeline in half.
Commerce is also finalizing $23.9 million for Rocket Lab unit SolAero Technologies Corp., which the department said is asimed at increasing the company's production of solar cells by 50% over the next three years. Rocket Lab is one of two U.S. firms specializing in the production of highly efficient, radiation-resistant compound semiconductors known as space-grade solar cells.
“From satellites in space to defense systems on the ground, our most advanced defense and commercial technology rely on mature-node and compound semiconductors to operate,” said Laurie E. Locascio, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and National Institute of Standards and Technology Director. “By finalizing these awards, we are strengthening America’s domestic semiconductor supply-chain resilience and broadening our manufacturing capabilities. Thanks to this investment, the United States is continuing to develop new pathways for the innovation that will reinforce our nation as a global technology leader for decades to come.”
