The best defense & space domain awareness space startups
18 defense & space domain awareness companies in the directory, ranked by disclosed funding ($2.0B raised between them), spanning 6 countries.
The fastest-growing corner of the space economy. These startups track what happens in orbit, protect satellites, and build for national security customers, a market that barely existed for startups five years ago.
Updated 9 October 2026 · 22 milestones in the last 90 days · Follow by RSS
State of the sector
As of 9 October 2026
This sector watches what happens in orbit. LeoLabs tracks satellites and debris with radars on the ground. Slingshot Aerospace sells tracking software and networks of optical sensors. True Anomaly and Turion Space build spacecraft that can maneuver close to other satellites, and Hawkeye 360 maps radio signals from orbit to show activity on the ground.
Most of the recent milestones here are government contracts. In 2026 Slingshot Aerospace won its largest award yet, a Space Force contract for AI mission rehearsal, and LeoLabs won a Space Force agreement for a mobile version of its radar. HEO Robotics won one of the National Reconnaissance Office's first commercial contracts for imaging other spacecraft. Katalyst Space's first spacecraft, LINK, launched in July 2026 to catch NASA's Swift telescope and raise its orbit. Two of its three reaction wheels failed, so the capture was dropped. LINK re-entered the atmosphere in September.
Diffraqtion is building a quantum camera meant to see finer detail than an ordinary lens allows. It holds a DARPA contract for space domain awareness. Inversion Space builds Arc, a reentry vehicle meant to deliver cargo from orbit to anywhere on Earth in under an hour.
Latest milestones
Every dated event from the companies below, newest first, each with its source.
Iceye: Starts a partnership with California’s Office of Emergency Services for ongoing flood and wildfire monitoringIceye: Four more radar imaging satellites launch on SpaceX's Transporter-18Iceye: Partners with Nokia to develop sovereign broadband LEO satellite communications systems for governments
Synspective: Signs a 20-launch Electron deal with Rocket Lab, Rocket Lab's largest commercial Electron contract
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 mission
HEO Robotics: Raises a US$25M Series B led by Beaten Zone Venture Partners to extend its imaging network into GEOKatalyst 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 orbit
True Anomaly: Is selected to fly a Jackal on GHOST-R, the GEO reconnaissance pathfinder for the Space Force RG-XX programIceye: Leads the ARISE consortium, which ESA selects to design the architecture of the EU Earth Observation Governmental Service
Apex: Agrees to set up a US factory to build direct-to-device satellites for Elveo Mobile, the operator formed by the merger of Lynk Global and OmnispaceShow 40 earlier milestones
iQPS: Signs a rideshare launch contract with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to fly three QPS-SAR satellites on an H3 rocket
Inversion Space: NASA awards a contract to study using the Arc vehicle to demonstrate aerocapture in Earth's atmosphereHEO Robotics: Continuum-1, a satellite bought from Satellogic, holds station near a spent Long March 2C stage and images it from about 40 km at 8 cm per pixel, HEO's first rendezvous and proximity operation
Diffraqtion: Adds more than $5M to the pre-seed from Lockheed Martin Ventures, Presidio Ventures and others, taking the total past $10M, to fly a hosted payload
LeoLabs: Wins a $20.68M Space Force prototype agreement for a Scout radar, its container-sized mobile system, modified for national security use
Turion Space: DROID.002 evades an aggressor spacecraft during SALITRE, a multinational exercise with SPACEFOR-SOUTH and five allied nationsKatalyst Space: After two of LINK's three reaction wheels fail, NASA and Katalyst drop the Swift capture and fly the mission as a rendezvous demonstration
Digantara: Unveils MOSAIC, a network of ground-based optical sensors for tracking objects in orbitKatalyst Space: Chosen by the Defense Innovation Unit to develop a deorbit service for Space Development Agency satellites using NEXUS
Capella Space: Wins a National Reconnaissance Office contract for commercial radar data, alongside ICEYE U.S. and UmbraIceye: Wins, through ICEYE U.S., a National Reconnaissance Office contract for commercial radar data alongside Capella and UmbraKatalyst Space: LINK, its first robotic servicing spacecraft, launches on a Pegasus XL from KwajaleinTrue Anomaly: JACKAL-0004 completes the first VICTUS HAZE sortie, rendezvousing with a responsively launched spacecraft within hours of its arrival
Slingshot Aerospace: Wins a $69.2M Space Force contract for AI mission rehearsal, its largest award yetKatalyst Space: Raises $12M led by Geodesic Capital toward NEXUS, its first geostationary servicing mission in 2027Iceye: Raises €450M in a Series F led by General Atlantic at a valuation above €10BiQPS: An Electron launch carrying its Mikura-I satellite aborts at ignition; the satellite flies that August
PierSight: Launches Vidura, a drone-mounted radar that sees through foliage, for ground defence operationsCapella Space: Launches a commercial InSAR ground-movement monitoring product, sold by parent IonQ
Hawkeye 360: Lists on the NYSE as HAWK, raising $416MTrue Anomaly: Raises a $650M Series D, taking total capital past $1BCapella Space: Wins a Space Development Agency HALO Europa prototype agreement to demonstrate tactical communications in low Earth orbitTurion Space: Raises a $75M Series B led by Washington Harbour Partners to expand its maneuverable fleetKatalyst Space: Books an Ariane 6 launch to geostationary orbit for its first commercial servicing missionHEO Robotics: Wins one of the NRO’s first three commercial non-Earth imaging contracts
Albedo: Reports Clarity-1 lost after nine months in orbit when a radio memory fault blocked reboots; the bus data supports a five-year life at 275 kmPierSight: Signs, as part of the Pixxel-led consortium, IN-SPACe's agreement for a national constellation of 12 Earth observation satellitesDiffraqtion: Emerges from stealth with a $4.2M pre-seed led by QDNL Participations and a $1.5M DARPA contract for space domain awarenessIceye: Its joint venture with Rheinmetall wins a German Armed Forces order for SAR reconnaissance data (SPOCK 1) valued at about €1.7BDigantara: Raises a $50M Series B to extend its sensors to missile detection and trackingiQPS: Wins a share of Japan’s Ministry of Defense satellite constellation tenderDiffraqtion: Wins the Slush 100 competition and its $1.1M equity prize from Cherry Ventures and General CatalystHEO Robotics: Holmes Mk2 flies on Impulse’s Mira, the first NOAA-licensed non-Earth imaging payload cleared above 800 kmAlbedo: Shuts its commercial imagery business and lays off staff to sell the VLEO bus itself to other payload operatorsInversion Space: Unveils Arc, a maneuverable reentry vehicle designed to deliver military cargo anywhere on Earth within an hourSlingshot Aerospace: UK Space Agency picks Slingshot to deploy 13 optical sensor systems across five sitesKatalyst Space: NASA awards a Phase III SBIR contract to design a rescue mission for the Swift observatory, to launch within ten monthsCapella Space: IonQ completes the acquisition of Capella SpaceKatalyst Space: Wins US Space Command's Sustained Space Maneuver Challenge and a $1.9M contractCapella Space: Quantum computing firm IonQ agrees to buy Capella for $311 millionNew in defense & space domain awareness
All 18 defense & space domain awareness companies
Ranked by disclosed funding.
True Anomaly Spacecraft for space security
Apex Satellite buses off assembly lines
LeoLabs Satellite observation from Earth
Digantara Tracking satellites and debris from orbit
Inversion Space Cargo from orbit in under an hour
Slingshot Aerospace Decision intelligence technologies
Capella Space AcquiredGathering information from space
PierSight Radar satellites for tracking ships
Albedo Satellites for very low Earth orbit
Asgard Space Shut downHigh accuracy space surveillance and tracking
Diffraqtion Quantum cameras for satellites
Hawkeye 360 GraduatedGlobal intelligence network
HEO Robotics Space object inspection
Iceye Timely and reliable satellite imagery
iQPS GraduatedAll-weather SAR imagery
Katalyst Space Robotic spacecraft that dock with satellites
Synspective GraduatedThe StriX SAR constellation
Turion Space Droid spacecraft for space awareness
How many defense & space domain awareness space startups are there in 2026?
Space Bandits tracks 18 defense & space domain awareness companies, 13 of them active, with $2.0B in disclosed funding between them.
What is the latest news from defense & space domain awareness startups?
The most recent milestone on record is from Iceye, dated 8 October 2026: "Starts a partnership with California’s Office of Emergency Services for ongoing flood and wildfire monitoring."
How many defense & space domain awareness startups have shut down?
1 of the 18 have shut down. The graveyard records how each one ended.
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