A new breed of startups is shooting for the stars, quite literally. These cosmic entrepreneurs are tackling everything from orbital factories to satellite swarms, redefining what’s possible in the final frontier. From revolutionizing manufacturing in microgravity to monitoring our planet’s health from orbit, these companies are charting new territories in space exploration and utilization.
Top Space Companies to Follow
Every year, new startups pull to the forefront of their industry through exciting innovation, tech, and industry-disrupting business models. We’ve rounded up the most exciting space startups of 2025 that startup-lovers, investors, and aspiring entrepreneurs should follow.
Disclaimer: With so many exciting startups launching and growing worldwide, we aren’t able to cover them all. Furthermore, the companies that are listed below are not officially ranked and are listed in no particular order.
1. Mission Space
- Location: Luxembourg
- Founder(s): Alex Shirobokov, Alex Pospekhov
- Founded In: 2021
- Funding: Accelerator, $1.31 Million
- Investors Include: TechCrunch, Amazon Web Services, Space Hubs Network
Mission Space monitors the “weather” in the solar system, including geomagnetic and solar radiation storms. It features three different types of satellites with sensors that can measure and monitor magnetic and solar wind conditions near the earth, as well as streams of radiation from the Sun. All of these can cause power blackouts, damage to electrical grids, satellite disruption, and it can even wreak havoc on our critical systems.
2. Skyroot Aerospace
- Location: Hyderabad, India
- Founder(s): Pawan Chandana, Bharath Daka
- Founded In: 2018
- Funding: Series B, $98.5 Million
- Investors Include: Meraki Labs, Greenko Group, Temasek Holdings
Skyroot Aerospace’s mission is to create responsive, reliable, and economic ways to transport people and objects into space. It currently is working on three launch vehicles with different payload capacities and other characteristics. All three are tailored to the small satellite market. They’re built on a common architecture, can deliver a wide range of payloads, and can be assembled and launched within 24-72 hours (depending on the model) from any launch site.
3. Pixxel
- Location: El Segundo, California
- Founder(s): Awais Ahmed, Kshitij Khandelwal
- Founded In: 2019
- Funding: Series B, $64.6 Million
- Investors Include: Enterprise Mobility Ventures, Alphabet, Athera
Pixxel wants to build a “health monitor for the planet” by launching a constellation of small satellites. These “hyperspectral” Earth-imaging satellites are uniquely designed to beam down geospatial data in hundreds of wavelengths to detect problems that are invisible to today’s satellites. The data they collect from their 24-hour global coverage will be made accessible through a platform that allows businesses and governments to glean new insights about the earth.
4. Bellatrix Aerospace
- Location: Bangalore, India
- Founder(s): Rohan Ganapathy, Yashas Karanam
- Founded In: 2015
- Funding: Grant, $11 Million
- Investors Include: BASF Venture Capital, Inflexor Ventures, Mankind Pharma
Bellatrix Aerospace builds cuttin-edge rocket propulsion systems. Next year it plans further tests of its proprietary hall-effect thruster, which uses electric propulsion and can be used on small satellites. The company has partnered with the European Space Agency.
5. Leaf Space
- Location: Milan, Italy
- Founder(s): Jonata Puglia, Giovanni Pandolfi Bortoletto
- Founded In: 2014
- Funding: Series B, $48.5 Million
- Investors Include: CDP Venture Capital, Primo Ventures, Simest
Leaf Space provides dedicated and shared ground segment services for satellites. Its Leaf Key dedicated ground services are aimed at satellite operators and space service providers who need a custom approach to communicating with their space assets. Space companies with more limited budgets can use the Leaf Line shared services, which are best for in-orbit demonstrations and other missions requiring high contact time and low latency.
6. Varda
- Location: El Segundo, California
- Founder(s): Will Bruey, Delian Asparouhov
- Founded In: 2021
- Funding: Series B, $176 Million
- Investors Include: Deep Checks, Space Capital, AFWERX
Varda Space Industries (Varda) aims to revolutionize manufacturing by producing materials in space. The company plans to leverage microgravity conditions to create high-value products like fiber optic cables, pharmaceuticals, and semiconductors that are difficult or impossible to manufacture on Earth. Varda’s goal is to develop reusable space factories that can produce these materials in orbit and return them safely to Earth — potentially opening up new possibilities for industrial production and scientific research.
7. DCUBED
- Location: Germering, Germany
- Founder(s): Thomas Sinn
- Founded In: 2018
- Funding: Series A, $15.1 Million
- Investors Include: Expansion Ventures, Decisive Point, Aurelia Foundry
DCUBED develops actuators and deployable structures tailored for nano-satellites and the commercial space industry. Release actuators are commonly used to ensure that critical mechanisms are locked for launch, open doors for satellite deployers, and trigger the release of deployable structures like solar arrays and antennas. The company’s products are made from off-the-shelf or custom components.
8. ICEYE
- Location: Espoo, Finland
- Founder(s): Rafal Modrzewski, Pekka Laurila
- Founded In: 2014
- Funding: Series D, $378 Million
- Investors Include: Blackwells Capital, Move Capital, BAE Systems
ICEYE is another startup in the earth-monitoring satellite business, manufacturing a constellation of small and agile radar satellites that enable access to new kinds of data for the persistent monitoring of areas around the world. The satellites can detect even millimeter-level daily changes on the Earth’s surface. Applications include tracking fast-moving objects like ships, monitoring and addressing national security issues, and potentially predicting natural disasters.
9. Muon Space
- Location: Silicon Valley (Mountain View, California)
- Founder(s): Jonny Dyer, Paul Day, Dan McCleese, Reuben Rohrschneider, Pascal Stang
- Founded In: 2021
- Funding: Series B, $90.3 Million
- Investors Include: ACME Capital, Activate Capital Partners, Radical Ventures
Muon Space develops and operates a constellation of Earth observation satellites. The company aims to provide high-quality, frequently updated data on our planet’s climate and environment by using advanced sensors and artificial intelligence (AI). Muon Space’s mission is to empower governments, businesses, and organizations with actionable insights so they can address critical environmental challenges and make data-driven decisions about climate change, natural resource management, and disaster response.
10. The Exploration Company
- Location: Munich, Germany
- Founder(s): Hélène Huby
- Founded In: 2021
- Funding: Series A, $48.9 Million
- Investors Include: Audacia, EQT Ventures, FJ Labs
The Exploration Company wants to “democratize exploration” for both space and non-space industries by manufacturing and operating a modular and reusable orbital vehicle that can eventually be refueled in orbit. The vehicle, dubbed Nyx, currently carries cargo but has the potential to carry humans on missions ranging from orbiting the earth to traveling to the Moon and back. The vehicle is built with open interfaces that can be used by other companies to develop new applications.