There is no reason to do it with current processes. It could possibly reduce defect rate/increase yields but I'm not sure impurities are even leading cause now.
But we might discover other uses, that's what science is.
No way. This is being done because there’s a predictable path to profitability. It’s not just random shot in the dark science you can sometimes see in academia. It’s just this path isn’t clear to us laymen… I know because launching into space isn’t something that will be done just for science
I came across space forge due to some algorithmic discovery on YT a few months ago.
If I am recalling it correctly - They’re focusing on goods that can be made, that have a high $ value vs volume and density. High purity silicon is what they identified.
That doesn't mean they're going to space for traditional profitability, though. The advertising budget is a classic example: none of those activities are profitable, but they alter market behaviour such that other parts of the company can make money.
Which doesn't mean it's not another example of the same phenomenon. Many companies do things that are not, and will never be, profitable (in the traditional sense), because they have ulterior motives.