An engine propels the disk-shaped satellite in orbit at 18,000 miles per hour, creating a vacuum in its wake. This vacuum is almost free of molecules, so what's grown inside the wake will be very pure.
Companies use the vacuum to create semiconductors for use in advanced electronics.
These tiny, pure semiconductors help equipment such as computers run very quickly and efficiently. Columbia's robot arm launched the WSF satellite on the first flight day and retrieved it before heading back to Earth.