SPACE INDEX COMPANIES INSIGHTS SECTORS PRODUCTS NEWS BLOG ANSWERS RESEARCH ABOUT FOR COMPANIES BUILD / 2026.06.04

Access to Space

Getting mass from Earth's surface to orbit and beyond.

STATISTICS
Status
Closed 2 Operating 113
Geo
USA 42 CHN 11 DEU 10 FRA 9 GBR 7
SECTORS

Launch Services

50

Companies that develop and operate orbital launch vehicles to deliver payloads to space. Revenue comes from selling launch as a service. Includes dedicated missions and rideshare.

Suborbital & High-Altitude

16

Companies operating vehicles that reach space altitude without achieving orbit, or that operate in the stratosphere. Includes suborbital rockets, high-altitude balloons, and stratospheric platforms.

Space Transportation & Logistics

38

In-space transfer vehicles, orbital tugs, and cargo systems. Companies that move payloads between orbits or deliver them to specific destinations after separation from a launch vehicle.

Spaceports & Range Services

11

Operators of launch sites, landing zones, range services, and associated ground infrastructure that enables launch and reentry operations.

Satellite Communications

66

Companies that operate constellations or individual satellites to provide connectivity: broadband, mobile backhaul, IoT, direct-to-device, broadcast, or relay services.

Earth Observation & Remote Sensing

66

Companies that operate satellites to capture data about Earth's surface, atmosphere, or oceans. Includes optical, radar, thermal, multispectral, hyperspectral, and RF sensing.

Navigation & Positioning

15

Companies developing satellite-based positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) systems or augmentation services beyond government-operated GPS/Galileo/GLONASS.

Satellite Manufacturing

93

Companies that design and build complete satellite systems or buses for other operators. Prime integrators and platform providers. Distinct from component suppliers.

Satellite Components & Subsystems

74

Manufacturers of specific satellite hardware sold to integrators: solar arrays, antennas, reaction wheels, star trackers, power systems, thermal management, structures, deployables.

Space Propulsion

58

Companies developing propulsion systems sold as products to other spacecraft or launch vehicle builders. Electric, chemical, nuclear, or novel propulsion technologies.

Space Sustainability & Debris Removal

12

Active debris removal, end-of-life deorbit services, debris mitigation technologies, and compliance solutions. Companies whose primary mission is keeping orbits usable.

In-Orbit Servicing & Assembly

21

On-orbit inspection, repair, refueling, life extension, repositioning, or construction. Servicing existing assets rather than removing debris.

Space Domain Awareness

32

Tracking objects in orbit, monitoring the space environment, characterizing threats, providing space traffic data, collision avoidance services, and RF interference detection. Encompasses both physical tracking (SSA) and strategic/behavioral context (SDA).

Space Stations & Habitats

9

Developing crewed or uncrewed orbital platforms for long-duration occupation. Commercial stations, modules, and habitable structures.

In-Space Manufacturing

24

Manufacturing in microgravity or vacuum. Includes pharmaceutical processing, fiber optics, semiconductor crystals, bioprinting, and materials science.

Lunar Services

16

Landers, surface systems, rovers, habitats, communication relays, and navigation services for the Moon. Companies building the lunar economy.

Planetary Exploration

13

Systems for Mars, Venus, asteroids, or outer solar system destinations. Probes, rovers, sample return, and deep-space transportation.

Space Resources & Mining

5

Prospecting, extraction, and processing of natural resources from celestial bodies. Water ice, regolith, metals from asteroids or the Moon.

Geospatial Intelligence & Analytics

40

Processing, analyzing, and deriving insights from satellite-collected data. The software layer above Earth observation hardware. AI/ML applied to imagery and signals.

Space Software & Mission Tools

41

Mission planning, orbit determination, flight dynamics, satellite operations software, digital twins, and simulation platforms for the space industry.

Ground Segment & Networks

42

Ground station networks, satellite-as-a-service platforms, managed ground operations, antenna farms, user terminals, GNSS receivers, modems, and terrestrial connectivity infrastructure for space assets. Includes both ground station operators and ground equipment manufacturers.

Space Tourism & Experience

1

Spaceflight experiences for private individuals. Orbital, suborbital, high-altitude, and analogue/training experiences.

Crew Systems & Life Support

5

Spacesuits, EVA equipment, environmental control and life support systems (ECLSS), radiation protection, and human factors technologies.

Space Defense Systems

32

Missile warning, space control, protected communications, responsive launch, counter-space capabilities, and space-based defense platforms.

Space Intelligence & Reconnaissance

8

Space-based ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) primarily for government and defense. Includes SIGINT, GEOINT, and ELINT from orbit.

Space Cybersecurity

2

Cybersecurity solutions for space systems. Satellite cyber hardening, quantum key distribution, zero-trust architectures for ground-to-space links, post-quantum cryptography for space communications, and space segment resilience against cyber threats.

KEY TAGS
FEATURED COMPANIES
P
Pioneer Aerospace
OPERATING
USA EST. 1938

Parachute and aerodynamic decelerator manufacturer serving military, NASA, and space programs since 1938

Space Transportation & LogisticsSpace Propulsion
United States
EXPLORE
Pangea Aerospace logo
Pangea Aerospace
OPERATING
ESP EST. 2018

Barcelona-based aerospace company developing reusable aerospike rocket engines and propulsion systems for space launch

Launch ServicesSpace Transportation & LogisticsSpace Propulsion
Spain
EXPLORE
Osmos X logo
Osmos X
OPERATING
FRA EST. 2022

Electro-plasmic propulsion systems and in-orbit services for satellites and orbital transfer

Space Transportation & LogisticsSpace PropulsionSpace Sustainability & Debris Removal
Rennes, France
EXPLORE
Orbital Paradigm logo
Orbital Paradigm
OPERATING
ESP EST. 2023

Developer of autonomous reusable reentry vehicles for small-mass, high-cadence Earth return from orbit

Space Transportation & LogisticsSpace PropulsionIn-Space Manufacturing
Spain
EXPLORE
N
North American Aviation
OPERATING
USA EST. 1928

Major American aerospace manufacturer that produced the P-51 Mustang, F-86 Sabre, X-15, and Apollo spacecraft

Satellite ManufacturingSpace Transportation & LogisticsSpace Propulsion
United States
EXPLORE
85 COMPANIES
FREQUENTLY ASKED

What does the Access to Space domain include?

The Access to Space domain spans 26 sectors and 85 companies tracked by Space Index.

Where are most Access to Space companies headquartered?

Access to Space companies are most often headquartered in United States (42), China (11), and Germany (10).