space

Who can reach orbit, how often, and what gets built on top.

Getting anything into orbit still depends on a handful of rockets, and most of what goes up rides on one company's. Satellites in low orbit sit close to Earth, so they can offer broadband, phone service, imaging and navigation, but only in fleets of hundreds or thousands that need regular replacement. The question here is whether launch supply, and the budgets that buy it, keep pace.

Launch is the gate.
In 2025 one company flew about half of the world's orbital launches and carried roughly four-fifths of the mass. Constellations that rely partly on other rockets are running behind their own schedules: Amazon Leo had about 400 of its first 3,236 satellites up in October 2026, and AST SpaceMobile 13 of a 45-satellite target for the year.
The backbone is changing vehicles.
SpaceX launched less often in 2026 than in 2025 as it moves volume from Falcon 9 to Starship, which reached orbit in September 2026. Whether tonnes to orbit in 2027 clearly exceed 2025 appears to depend on Starship flying on a regular schedule.
Reuse is spreading, slowly.
Blue Origin reflew a New Glenn booster in April 2026 and LandSpace recovered a Zhuque-3 first stage in August. Neither yet flies often. Rocket Lab's reusable Neutron has moved its first flight into 2027.
Governments set the pace of demand.
Defense and civil budgets buy launch, sensing and station services, and the Space Force request for fiscal 2027 is $71.3B, against a fiscal 2026 request of about $40B, though $12.1B of it depends on a reconciliation bill Congress has not passed. Range capacity and enacted appropriations, not customer interest, appear to set the timing.
Value above the backbone is unproven.
Broadband from orbit now produces billions of dollars a quarter. Companies selling imagery and signals data report revenue in the tens to low hundreds of millions per quarter. Whether that layer captures a growing share is the open question.

what would change the view

  • A second provider (New Glenn, Neutron, or a Chinese reusable vehicle) sustains 25 or more orbital launches in a year by 2028, so launch stops being the gate.
  • Starship does not reach regular operational flights in 2027 and SpaceX's annual tonnes to orbit stay at or below the 2025 level, which would mean the backbone transition is slower than this page assumes.
  • Earth-observation and radio-frequency data companies grow revenue faster than satellite broadband for four or more consecutive quarters, which would show value moving up the stack.

map

scoreboard Tonnes of payload put into orbit in a year. It measures launch capacity, which counting rockets or satellites does not: a small-satellite rocket and a 100-tonne-class vehicle each count as one launch. Only SpaceX discloses its figure; world totals are industry estimates.

SpaceX's share of world orbital launches (left dot) and of world mass to orbit (right dot). Launch counts from McDowell's catalog; mass shares are estimates combining SpaceX's own figures with BryceTech world totals, so they are approximate.

Orbital launch attempts per year, one panel per launcher, all on the same scale. The hollow dot is SpaceX's own count for January to September 2026, not joined to the line. 'Other US' is the US total less SpaceX and includes Rocket Lab's Virginia launches; the New Zealand panel is Rocket Lab's home site.

Milestones that moved: the previously stated date (left) against the date now stated (right). Sources are company and agency statements; see the data table.

players

Listed companies whose value depends mainly on launch, constellations, sensing, positioning, in-space or lunar services. Private companies are included if they have operated their own launch vehicle, spacecraft or lander in orbit or beyond on a paying or government mission. China's state launcher is shown for context. Funding amounts are not shown for anyone.

SpaceXlisted, Nasdaq: SPCX
launch, broadband, direct-to-device · 113 launches and 1,517 t to orbit, Jan to Sep 2026; 13.6 million Starlink consumer subscribers (30 Sep 2026). Starship reached orbit on 28 Sep 2026; Falcon 9 volume is being reduced as pads move to Starship.
Rocket Lablisted, Nasdaq: RKLB
small launch, spacecraft · Q2 2026 revenue $234M; backlog $2.36B (30 Jun 2026). First Neutron launch moved from 4Q 2026 to 2027 after voids were found in a composite propellant tank dome (13 Oct 2026).
Firefly Aerospacelisted, Nasdaq: FLY
small launch, lunar landers · Alpha returned to flight in 1Q 2026. Blue Ghost Mission 2 in preparation; Eclipse medium rocket in development.
Blue Originprivate
heavy launch, lunar lander · Reflew and landed a New Glenn booster (19 Apr 2026). On that flight the upper stage failed to place its payload in the correct orbit. Blue Moon is one of two landers in NASA's Artemis plan.
United Launch AllianceBoeing and Lockheed Martin joint venture
heavy launch · Vulcan return to flight set for 13 Nov 2026. Grounded since a booster nozzle anomaly on 12 Feb 2026; the next flight carries 40 Amazon Leo satellites.
CASCstate-owned (China)
launch · 68 launches in 2025 (BryceTech). Builds the Long March family; China's total was 92 launches in 2025 across state and commercial providers.
LandSpaceprivate
reusable launch (China) · Zhuque-3 first stage recovered on land (19 Aug 2026). First Chinese commercial company to land an orbital-class booster; its Shanghai STAR Market listing review was suspended on 30 Sep 2026 pending updated financial reports.
Isar Aerospaceprivate
small launch (Europe) · Spectrum reached orbit on its second flight (5 Sep 2026). Flies from Andøya, Norway.
Amazon Leounit of Amazon, Nasdaq: AMZN
broadband, direct-to-device · 396 satellites deployed over 14 launches (12 Oct 2026). Service start moved from mid-2026 to late 2026; the FCC approved its purchase of Globalstar on 27 Oct 2026, closing pending.
AST SpaceMobilelisted, Nasdaq: ASTS
direct-to-device broadband · 13 BlueBird satellites in orbit (Aug 2026). Targets about 45 satellites in 2026; earlier targeted 45 to 60 by the end of 2026.
Eutelsat (OneWeb)listed, Euronext Paris: ETL
broadband · Over 600 satellites in 12 orbital planes (Jan 2026). Europe's operating low-orbit broadband fleet.
Xona Space Systemsprivate
positioning from low orbit · Six Pulsar navigation satellites launched (20 Oct 2026). Begins a limited navigation service, in beta, intended to supplement GPS.
Impulse Spaceprivate
in-space transport · Mira vehicle has flown on rideshare missions. Helios stage booked to carry Astranis satellites directly to geostationary orbit in 2028.
Varda Space Industriesprivate
in-space manufacturing, reentry · W-6 capsule recovered, its second reentry of 2026. Missions co-funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory.
Redwirelisted, NYSE: RDW
space components, in-space manufacturing · Q2 2026 revenue $117.1M; contracted backlog $542.1M (30 Jun 2026). Won a follow-on contract for roll-out solar array wings on Axiom Space's second station module (5 Oct 2026).
Voyager Technologieslisted, NYSE: VOYG
commercial space station, defense systems · Q3 2026 revenue about $89M; backlog $742M. Leads Starlab, which it says has about $700M in signed commercial reservations; NASA's station awards are expected in spring 2027.
Intuitive Machineslisted, Nasdaq: LUNR
lunar landers, data relay, spacecraft · Q2 2026 revenue $206.2M. Has reached the surface twice in the south polar region (2024, 2025); both landers came to rest on their sides.
Planet Labslisted, NYSE: PL
Earth observation · Q2 FY27 revenue $116.1M, up 58%; backlog $814.9M (31 Jul 2026). Sells imagery subscriptions and, increasingly, dedicated satellite capacity to governments.
BlackSkylisted, NYSE: BKSY
Earth observation · Q2 2026 revenue $33.3M, up 50%. Air Force Research Laboratory contract worth up to $99M to develop a large-aperture imaging payload (Mar 2026).
Spire Globallisted, NYSE: SPIR
radio-frequency and weather data · Q2 2026 revenue $18.0M; 29 satellites launched in 2026 through July. Revenue excluding the maritime business sold in 2025 rose 16%.
ICEYEprivate
radar Earth observation · 76 satellites launched (Jul 2026). Sells satellite fleets to European governments as well as data services.
HawkEye 360listed, NYSE: HAWK
radio-frequency sensing · Listed May 2026. Locates radio emitters from orbit for defense and maritime customers.

resources

Jonathan McDowell's Space Report
Independent launch and satellite catalog kept by an astrophysicist, with annual summaries such as Space Activities in 2025.
BryceTech, Global Space Launch Activity
Free annual analysis of launches, spacecraft and mass to orbit by country and provider.
Payload
Free daily newsletter covering launches, contracts and constellation progress.
NSPM-17, launch range policy
August 2026 White House memorandum directing US ranges to support more than 1,000 launches and reentries a year by 2030.
NASA Commercial LEO Destinations
NASA's plan to buy services from commercial space stations as the ISS retires; awards expected spring 2027.

notes

As of 3 November 2026. Figures come from company reports and filings, government documents, McDowell's catalog, BryceTech and news reports. McDowell counts launch attempts by country (329 in 2025); BryceTech counts by provider (325). Only SpaceX discloses mass to orbit; world totals are BryceTech estimates, so shares are approximate. Satellite counts differ by definition (launched, in orbit, working); each figure names its own. Company figures are the latest reported as of 3 November 2026; several companies report third-quarter results in the following weeks. Not investment advice.