SPACE INDEX COMPANIES INSIGHTS SECTORS PRODUCTS NEWS BLOG ANSWERS RESEARCH ABOUT FOR COMPANIES BUILD / 2026.06.03
Alba Orbital logo Alba Orbital Designs and manufactures PocketQube picosatellites, brokers rideshare launches, and operates a nighttime Earth observation constellation. vs AST SpaceMobile Operates a space-based cellular broadband network delivering 4G and 5G connectivity directly to standard smartphones via LEO satellites AST SpaceMobile logo
HEAD-TO-HEAD1 shared sector
Alba Orbital AST SpaceMobile
Founded 2012 2017
Headquarters Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom Midland, Texas, USA
Type private public
Status operating operating
Employees 14 613
Total funding $3.4M
Latest round Seed
Sectors Satellite Manufacturing, Earth Observation & Remote Sensing Satellite Communications, Ground Segment & Networks, Satellite Manufacturing
Products listed 5 5
Federal contracts
Launches
Leaders listed Tom Walkinshaw, Irene Belton Shanks Abel Avellan, Scott Wisniewski, Andrew Johnson
News mentions 0 1
SHARED SECTORS
FREQUENTLY ASKED

How do Alba Orbital and AST SpaceMobile compare?

Both companies work in Satellite Manufacturing. Alba Orbital was founded in 2012 and AST SpaceMobile in 2017.

Which is larger, Alba Orbital or AST SpaceMobile?

AST SpaceMobile reports the larger workforce, with 613 employees versus 14.

Numbers refresh on every render against the live Space Index database. Federal contract data from USAspending.gov; launches from LaunchLibrary2.