Week in Space Data, every Friday.
Broadband internet, TV broadcast, enterprise connectivity, maritime, aviation
Key players: Starlink (SpaceX), OneWeb (Eutelsat), Amazon Leo, SES (which acquired Intelsat in 2025), Viasat
Optical, SAR, and multispectral imaging for agriculture, defense, insurance, climate
Key players: Planet Labs, Vantor (formerly Maxar Intelligence), BlackSky, Capella Space (an IonQ company), ICEYE, Satellogic
Positioning, navigation, and timing services for billions of devices
Key players: GPS (US Space Force), Galileo (EU), GLONASS (Russia), BeiDou (China)
GEO comm sats, LEO constellation buses, small sats, and cubesats
Key players: Airbus, Lockheed Martin, Lanteris (formerly Maxar Space Systems), Thales Alenia Space, York Space Systems, Terran Orbital (Lockheed Martin)
Getting satellites from ground to orbit: the transportation layer
Key players: SpaceX, Rocket Lab, ULA, Arianespace, ISRO, Blue Origin
Antennas, terminals, ground stations, and ground-as-a-service
Key players: Hughes, Kymeta, Intellian, ATLAS Space Operations, AWS Ground Station
ESA's Space Debris Office counts about 15,900 functioning satellites and about 47,020 objects (including debris) regularly tracked by space surveillance networks (statistics updated October 9, 2026). SpaceX reported more than 10,200 Starlink satellites in August 2026. The Satellite Industry Association counted 14,266 operational satellites at the end of 2025.
Major satellite manufacturers include Airbus Defence and Space, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Lanteris (formerly Maxar Space Systems), Thales Alenia Space, Northrop Grumman, and BAE Systems, which bought Ball Aerospace in 2024. Smaller-satellite builders include York Space Systems, Rocket Lab (Photon), and Terran Orbital, a Lockheed Martin company since 2024.
The Satellite Industry Association put commercial satellite industry revenue at $303 billion in 2025, 71 percent of a $429 billion global space economy: ground segment $165.2 billion, satellite services $105.0 billion, satellite manufacturing $20.4 billion and commercial launch $12.4 billion. Satellite broadband subscribers grew 62 percent to over 10 million, and satellite broadband revenue grew 16 percent.
Earth observation (EO) satellites capture images and data about Earth's surface, atmosphere, and oceans. Applications include agriculture (crop monitoring), insurance (damage assessment), defense (intelligence), climate monitoring, urban planning, and disaster response.