Space startups in the United States
The directory tracks 104 space companies in the United States. They work on launch, Earth observation, software, communications & connectivity and more.
Updated 7 November 2026 · 93 milestones in the last 90 days · Follow by RSS
Where things stand
As of 27 September 2026
Nearly half the companies in the directory are American. Nine US companies have grown past the startup stage, most of them by going public. SpaceX listed on Nasdaq in June 2026, at a valuation of roughly $1.77 trillion. Firefly Aerospace listed in August 2025, five months after its Blue Ghost lander made the first fully successful commercial Moon landing. Hawkeye 360 listed on the New York Stock Exchange in May 2026.
Several US companies founded since 2020 flew hardware in the past year. Impulse Space brought two of its Mira vehicles within about 200 metres of each other in July 2026. K2 Space launched Gravitas, a satellite of about two tonnes, in March 2026. Starcloud put an Nvidia H100 data-centre GPU in orbit in November 2025. Katalyst Space launched LINK, its first servicing spacecraft, in July 2026. Two of its three reaction wheels then failed, and NASA and Katalyst dropped the planned capture of the Swift observatory.
Eighteen US companies have been bought. Voyager Technologies bought Astrobotic in July 2026. York Space Systems bought Solestial, and its parent company bought Atlas Space. IonQ, a quantum computing company, bought Capella Space in 2025. Six US companies have shut down and ten are dormant. Moon Express is one of the dormant ones. It has had no documented activity since November 2018, when NASA named it one of nine companies to carry payloads to the Moon.
Latest milestones
Every dated event from the companies below, newest first, each with its source.
Firefly Aerospace: Is onboarded as a vendor on NASA's $10B CLPS 2 lunar delivery contract
Impulse Space: Wins two task orders for NASA's Moon Base programFirefly Aerospace: Signs a deal worth more than $1.3B to supply AST SpaceMobile with 36 rocket engines and license their design
Stoke Space: Gets right of entry from Space Launch Delta 45 to survey land north of its SLC-14 launch site
LeoLabs: Secures a conditional commitment for up to $150M in loans from the Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital
Planet: Launches the Planet AI app, which lets users search ten years of Planet imagery through a map-based chat
Slingshot Aerospace: Names Vince Monteparte CEO and co-founder Melanie Stricklan chair of the board
Varda Space: W-8 lands at the Koonibba Test Range after 35 days in orbit
Astranis Space Technologies Corp: Wins a NASA Ka-band relay contract worth up to $264.3M including options
Astrolab: Unveils LUMIS, a lunar node designed to supply power, communications and data to customers on the MoonShow 40 earlier milestones
Starfish Space: Loses contact with Otter 24C a month after launch, ending a NASA in-space inspection mission
Hydrosat: Unveils Nyktòs, a mid-wave infrared thermal imaging product for tactical surveillance
K2 Space: SES's meoSphere payload on Gravitas demonstrates a two-way optical link between ground and space
Aetherflux: Unveils Big Iron, a rocket it is developing to launch its orbital data centresAstranis Space Technologies Corp: Upgrades its SpaceX contract to a dedicated Falcon 9 for its fourth batch of six MicroGEO satellitesAetherflux: Signs a two-year research agreement with NOAA to test processing weather satellite data in orbit
Portal Space Systems: Starburst-1 reaches orbit on SpaceX's Bandwagon-5 rideshare and unfurls its solar arrays
Reflect Orbital: Buys two launches from India's Skyroot Aerospace, one on Vikram-1 and one on the larger Vikram-1UPlanet: Launches Populace, a global population density map at 40-metre resolution, updated every quarter
Axiom Space: Confirms links between its two orbital compute nodes on Kepler satellites and to the ground
Orbit Fab: Completes qualification of RAFTI High Pressure, a European version of its refuelling port for high-pressure propellants
Skylo: Launches a combined cellular and satellite IoT service across Brazil with Flolive
Array Labs: Wins a $4.47M Army Research Laboratory contract to develop distributed radar satellite clusters for 3D imagingAxiom Space: Orders roll-out solar array wings from Redwire for its second station module
Nanoracks: Parent Voyager Technologies wins a $22.4M Pentagon award to build flight-ready satellite deployers that use spare capacity on national security launches
Ursa Major Technologies: US Navy awards two contracts worth $137M to develop solid rocket motors for the Compact Air-to-Air Missile and the Naval Modular Missile
Southern Stars: Ships Orbitrack 2.7.2, its third update since August to the satellite-tracking app
OneWeb: Airbus completes the first 32 renewal OneWeb satellites, which ship for a SpaceX launchAetherflux: Reason-1, its first satellite, launches on Transporter-18 to test beaming power from orbit to Earth
Loft Orbital: Altair-1, the first satellite under its CNES MS-HR Earth observation contract, launches on Transporter-18Planet: Launches its second Tanager satellite and the first prototype satellite for Google's Project Suncatcher on SpaceX's Transporter-18
Spire: Launches the first three satellites built at its Boulder, Colorado factory on SpaceX Transporter-18Starfish Space: Its first full-size Otter launches on SpaceX's Transporter-18 for NASA's SSPICY inspection missionVarda Space: Two more of its reentry capsules launch on SpaceX's Transporter-18Impulse Space: LEO Express 4 launches on SpaceX's Bandwagon-5 rideshare from Cape Canaveral
Momentus: Vigoride-7 flies in formation with NASA's R5-S10 cubesat, which images it during a proximity operations test
Stellar Amenities: Starts Stellar Amenities Lab, a research lab for keeping people healthy in spaceAstranis Space Technologies Corp: Receives a $468M credit facility from the Export-Import Bank of the United States to expand satellite production
Rocket Lab: Signs Synspective for 20 Electron launches, its largest commercial Electron contractVarda Space: Closes a $251M Series D led by Lux Capital and Natural Capital, taking total funding to $598M
SpaceX: Starship reaches orbit for the first time on Flight 14 and deploys 26 Starlink satellites, though it loses an engine on the way up and is brought down after almost two orbits instead of 10 hours
Katalyst Space: LINK exercises its xenon thrusters and three robotic arms as a demonstration, then re-enters the atmosphere after NASA ends its part in the missionHydrosat: Is selected for NOAA’s ten-year Space-Based Environmental Monitoring IDIQ, an $8B shared-ceiling vehicleAstrolab: Partners with Interstellar Mapping, whose subsurface data will guide where FLIP looks for lunar waterImpulse Space: Wins a $28M Space Force contract to fly a Mira on a space domain awareness mission in low Earth orbit
Vast: Sets up a Lunar Programs division to apply Haven hardware to power, communications and habitats on the Moon
AstroForge: Reveals Solo, an in-house AI model that will run its spacecraft, ahead of a NASA-backed autonomy mission in 2027Spire: Wins a $33.2M NOAA task order for radio occultation weather data, worth about $66M with optionsHydrosat: Adds $10M from Suma Capital as an extension of its Series BKatalyst Space: Selected by the Pentagon's Operational Energy Capability Improvement Fund to build and fly ASGARD, a robotic spacecraft that assembles a power-beaming system in orbitRecently added
All 104 companies
Companies still operating first, then by latest news.
Firefly Aerospace GraduatedSmall-satellite launchers
Impulse Space Orbital transfer vehicles
Stoke Space The fully reusable Nova rocket
LeoLabs Satellite observation from Earth
Planet GraduatedImaging services
Slingshot Aerospace Decision intelligence technologies
Varda Space Orbital manufacturing
Astranis Space Technologies Corp Small dedicated GEO satellites
Astrolab Lunar rovers for the long term
Starfish Space Satellite servicing with Otter
Hydrosat Plant health monitored by satellites
K2 Space Mega-class satellite buses
Aetherflux Solar-powered GPU satellites, now Cowboy Space
Portal Space Systems Solar-thermal rapid-maneuver spacecraft
Reflect Orbital Sunlight after dark
Axiom Space Commercial space stations
Orbit Fab Gas stations in space
Skylo Satellite IoT connectivity
Array Labs 3D radar maps of the whole planet
Ursa Major Technologies Engines for small satellites
Southern Stars Cubesat services and tracking software
Loft Orbital Turnkey satellite deployment
Spire GraduatedSpace to cloud analytics
Momentus GraduatedIn-space flights for satellites
Stellar Amenities Designing off-world interiors
Rocket Lab GraduatedSmallsat launch services
SpaceX GraduatedReusable rockets and spacecraft
Katalyst Space Robotic spacecraft that dock with satellites
Vast Haven-1, a commercial space station
AstroForge Prospecting asteroids for platinum
True Anomaly Spacecraft for space security
Karman+ Asteroid material to refuel satellites
Muon Space Constellations as a service
Interlune Helium-3 from the Moon
Apex Satellite buses off assembly lines
Inversion Space Cargo from orbit in under an hour
Relativity Space 3D printed rockets
Blue Origin GraduatedOrbital rockets and spacecraft
Diffraqtion Quantum cameras for satellites
Gravitics Space station modules as products
Turion Space Droid spacecraft for space awareness
Arinna Ultrathin solar for spacecraft
Aethero Edge AI computers for satellites
Beyond Reach Labs Fold-flat solar arrays for big satellites
Starcloud Data centres in orbit
ThinkOrbital In-space welding and construction
Lunar Outpost Lunar rovers and mobility
Hawkeye 360 GraduatedGlobal intelligence network
RoGo Fire Fighting wildfires with intelligence
EXOS Aerospace Reusable suborbital space vehicles
GITAIRobots for work in space
Cemvita Factory Engineered microbes that eat CO2
Epsilon3 SaaS for space ops
Albedo Satellites for very low Earth orbit
EOS Data Analytics Satellite imagery analytics
Lux Aeterna Delphi, the reusable satellite
Akash Systems Diamond-cooled chips for space and AI
Astra GraduatedLow-cost orbital launches
Bryce Space & Tech Space and technology analytics services
First Resonance Software for aerospace manufacturing
OrbitsEdge Computing and analytics in space
RedWorks In-situ additive construction
Ramon.Space Computing infrastructure in space
Epic Aerospace Space transportation network
Spaced Ventures Direct access to smart space capital
AI SpaceFactory 3D printed habitats
Applied Ion Systems LLC Low cost electric propulsion systems
Tropical Weather Analytics, Inc. Hurricane and weather forecasting
Astralytical Space analysis and consulting
Space Angels Space investment network
AstroComm Spacecraft and ground-based hardware
Invariant AI AI agents for space compliance
Nanoracks AcquiredPayload deployment services
OneWeb AcquiredHigh speed internet satellite constellation
Capella Space AcquiredGathering information from space
Astrobotic AcquiredSpace robotics hardware and missions
Solestial AcquiredSpace solar technology
World View Enterprises AcquiredStratospheric observation and launch services
Phase Four AcquiredCompact electric propulsion for space
BridgeSat AcquiredLaser communication terminals
Atlas Space AcquiredSatellite communications as a service
Atomos Space AcquiredIn-space transportation service
Miles Space AcquiredPropulsion and space communications
Exo-Space AcquiredEdge computing in space
Kubos AcquiredSpace grade software
Altius Space AcquiredDeveloping rendezvous and capture technology
Because Learning AcquiredSTEM missions to space
Accion Systems AcquiredSatellite propulsion
Made In Space AcquiredIn-space manufacturing
Gateway Galactic DormantLEO orbital propellant depot
Analytical Space DormantHigh-speed data connection
Exodus Space Corp DormantReusable horizontal space vehicles
Additive Rocket Corporation Dormant3D printing rocket engines
Moon Express DormantLunar robotic spacecraft
SpaceVR DormantSharing the overview effect
Abstract Assembly Dormant3D cubesat models powered by AI
Eclipse Orbital DormantAffordable cube-sat launch service
Stofiel Aerospace Shut downSmallsat balloon launch service
Utowave Shut downInternet constellation
Leo Aerospace Shut downHigh altitude smallsat launcher
Gold Orbit Shut downShielding technology for modern spacecraft
Bagaveev Shut down3D printed rocket engines
Vector Launch Shut downAffordable space access
Audacy Shut downAnytime and seamless space connectivity
How many space startups are there in the United States?
Space Bandits tracks 104 space companies in the United States. Of those, 63 are active startups, and 9 have grown past the startup stage.
What do space startups in the United States work on?
The biggest groups are launch (15), Earth observation (10) and software (9), out of 20 sectors in all.
What is the latest news from space startups in the United States?
The most recent milestone on record is from Firefly Aerospace, dated 7 November 2026: "Is onboarded as a vendor on NASA's $10B CLPS 2 lunar delivery contract."
How many space startups in the United States have shut down?
7 of the 104 have shut down, and 8 more have shown no public activity for years. The graveyard records how each one ended.
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