The 10 Hottest Satellite Companies in 2024

Via Satellite’s 10 Hottest Companies rounds up 10 “must watch” companies in the satellite industry, from constellations, manufacturing, launch, and more. Via Satellite editors chose the companies on this list based on their expected activity for the year, and a mix of market share, transformational technology, ground-breaking deals, and overall industry excitement.

Now in its sixth year, it’s fascinating to see new companies make the list as the industry evolves. A number of these companies didn’t exist when the list started in 2019. The companies selected as the 2024 10 Hottest Companies in Satellite are listed here in alphabetical order:

Amazon / Project Kuiper

For at least the next couple of years, Amazon will be playing catch up in the race to deploy its Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite broadband constellation. Unlike other competitors making the leap from on paper to on orbit, Amazon’s vast financial resources provided the company with more time and a longer runway for its massive 3,236-satellite LEO system to take off. At the start of the new year, that time is running short.

Things get very real for Amazon in 2024. The company is set to begin launching Kuiper in the first half of the year in its rush to meet a quickly approaching FCC deadline to launch at least half of its system in the next two years. To meet this deadline, Amazon will depend on a full, global roster of launch partners, including its main competitor, SpaceX.

Amazon hit a significant technical milestone this past December when its prototype satellites maintained a stable connection speed of 100 gigabits per second during an optical inter-satellite link (OISL) test. OISL lasers connect large networks of satellites to keep them in sync. This is especially challenging for systems as large as Kuiper and SpaceX’s Starlink, which initially launched without inter-satellite links in order to speed up the process of getting into orbit. Amazon’s OISL test results suggest that all of the satellites in the Kuiper system will be able to maintain connections once deployed.

Project Kuiper is at a make-or-break moment. If all goes well, Amazon will have one of the most powerful LEO satellite connectivity offerings ever seen in the market, supported by a solid foundation of software technology and a network of business partnerships.

Apex Space

As more and more satellites are launched every year, manufacturers are scaling up to keep up with their customer demand. One new entrant, Apex Space, aims to shrink the timeline for manufacturing buses down to months and then weeks. Apex, based in Los Angeles, emerged from stealth mode in October of 2022, backed by VC firm Andreessen Horowitz. Its founders Ian Cinnamon and Max Benassi come from the startup world, Cinnamon from AI company Synapse, and Benassi from SpaceX and Astra.

The company’s focus is on standard products for rapid manufacturing, no custom engineering here. It is geared toward simplicity, and offers spacecraft user guides and virtual flatsats with easy download on its website so customers can start building their plans. The company’s first model is the Aries spacecraft, a 100 kilogram bus capable of supporting 100 kilograms of payload, with plans to build a 600 kilogram ESPA-grande satellite bus platform. Apex has moved quickly since it was founded and plans to launch the first Aries bus on the upcoming SpaceX Transporter-10 mission. The company also raised a $16 million Series A round in June, and recently signed a lease for a 4,300-square-meter factory in Los Angeles called Factory One, to scale production. Apex has set a bold goal to ramp up to 20 spacecraft by 2025, and the company is one to watch in U.S.-based manufacturing.

Impulse Space

When Tom Mueller, founding member of SpaceX and creator of the Merlin engine, started his own propulsion company, the space industry naturally paid attention. Impulse Space bills itself as an in-space transportation company, to transport payloads to Low-Earth Orbit, Geostationary Orbit (GEO), the Moon, Mars and beyond. The company first set its sights on LEO, and moved quickly to launch its first spacecraft to orbit. The team built the first Mira last-mile orbital transfer vehicle within 15 months. After launching in November 2023, Mira successfully fired all eight of its onboard thrusters and is now demonstrating capabilities in orbit.

But Impulse Space is thinking beyond LEO — looking to disrupt the launch market to GEO and beyond. It recently unveiled Helios, a high-performance kick stage that the company claims can lift 5 tons from LEO to GEO in less than a day. This could save satellite operators tens of millions of dollars, saving them the months of pre-revenue orbit-raising time it takes to reach GEO using onboard propellant. Helios can deliver payloads to sun orbits, lunar orbits, Lagrange points, and other planets in the solar system. The company also has a deal to power the Vast Haven-1 commercial space station, and a mission to Mars with Relativity Space.

With Mueller’s critical role in the engine technology that revolutionized the launch business over the last 10 years, it’s no leap to wonder how his own company will disrupt in-space logistics for the space economy of the future.

Rocket Factory Augsburg

The German space scene remains vibrant as ever with emerging companies like Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) trying to make an impact on the global space industry. Founded in 2018, RFA set out to offer launch services of up to 1,300 kilograms into LEO and beyond on a weekly basis.

Last year in June, the company completed a full hot fire engine test, making it the first private company in Europe to successfully hot fire a stage with a staged-combustion engine for its full duration. And late last year, the company won 3.5 million pounds ($4.45 million) in funding from the UK Space Agency (UKSA) to support plans to launch from SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetland Islands. RFA UK will use the funding to develop and operate the infrastructure and test equipment needed to enable them to launch the RFA ONE launch system from SaxaVord Spaceport. Its first test flight is planned for summer this year from Shetland, and both of its test flights are fully booked by the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

If successful, the launch will be a major victory for not only RFA, but for Germany, the U.K. and Europe, especially after the failed Virgin Orbit mission from Cornwall last year. Europe is eagerly awaiting successful launches from U.K. soil. This could be the year that commercial launching from Europe truly takes off.

Skylo

As the satellite and cellular worlds converge, Skylo has taken an interesting approach in the direct-to-device area, working with existing satellites and spectrum on a software solution for direct-to-device connectivity. The company works with global chipset companies and module makers to certify their devices on Skylo’s network to enable satellite-based connectivity without hardware updates. Compatible devices can “roam” onto Skylo’s network when they are outside of cellular coverage, as the network uses connectivity via partner satellites from Viasat and Ligado, for narrowband connectivity.

The company has an impressive ecosystem of partners, working with a long list of leading chip manufacturers, module makers, and MNOs including Samsung, Qualcomm, Quectel, Soracom, and Keysight. The decision to partner with Viasat is an interesting one, as Skylo chose to focus on its own tech stack and partner with existing satellites versus launching its own satellites.

Skylo sees its solution as a simple to deploy for MNOs and device manufacturers, applicable to use cases like mass market consumer devices, automotive, IoT, and more. Also, Skylo has chosen to work within 3GPP Release-17 standards, so it is not a vendor lock or proprietary solution. The company recently closed $37 million in funding, bringing new investors on board. MNOs have a number of choices for their satellite partners right now, and it will be interesting to see how Skylo scales up with its deep bench of partnerships.

SPACE42

At the end of 2023, United Arab Emirates satellite operator Yahsat and Bayanat, an AI-powered geospatial solutions provider, announced plans to merge to create a brand-new AI-powered space technology powerhouse called SPACE42. It is a very different piece of consolidation in the industry. Instead of bringing together two satellite operators, or two geospatial companies, it brings together a satellite operator with a geospatial solutions provider. To add to the intrigue, SPACE42’s managing director designate is Karim Michel Sabbagh, the former CEO of SES, which seems a little bit of a left field appointment. The company is based on the proposed merger of Bayanat and Yahsat, which is subject to approvals, and expected to be completed in mid-2024.

Yahsat has been a strong success story since it was launched just under two decades ago, and now the company leads the fusion of AI, geospatial, and traditional GEO in a way that could bring in a new era of combined space services. Sabbagh in one of his first interviews since the appointment, said the aim is to create “a unique, vertically integrated provider of AI-powered geospatial and mobility solutions, earth observation, satellite communications, IoT and business intelligence.” The proposed company faces many questions. Can it enter into new markets and win unique business? Can SPACE42 exhibit exciting new capabilities that showcase legacy AI and satellite operator technology? SPACE42 has the potential to become an influencer in the space industry in terms of fusing the power of AI and space.

SWISSto12

Since making one of its earliest appearances at the SATELLITE conference’s first ever Startup Space competition back in 2016, SWISSto12 has evolved from components specialist to full satellite manufacturer. Its company name refers to its native Switzerland’s reputation for design excellence in clocks and watches, and now, low-cost, Geostationary small satellites.

SWISSto12 has been very successful selling its GEO smallsat HummingSat platform. Backed by funding from the European Space Agency (ESA) Ministerial Council, HummingSat carries advanced radio frequency payloads in a form factor that is 10 times lighter and cheaper than most legacy GEO satellite models. Both Intelsat and Inmarsat (which is now owned by Viasat), have ordered HummingSat models, with launches scheduled within the next two years.

As with other manufacturing startups that have endured beyond multiple funding rounds, SWISSto12 is working to establish its presence along the entire length of the satellite supply chain. The company is developing Ka-band solid-state power amplifiers (SSPAs) in partnership with Thales Alenia Space that will serve as an antenna link between Earth and the HummingSat range of satellites. SWISSto12 Founder and CEO Emile de Rijk has recently said that the company is “proud to be at the core of Europe’s new space ecosystem.” It’s a very strategic statement, as Europe’s global space industry seeks to regain momentum – an effort that is increasingly (and now almost entirely) reliant on the speed and success of startups like SWISSto12.

Telesat

At the start of 2023, there were many questions around Telesat. With Lightspeed behind schedule and facing intense competition would it even get built? In August last year, we got our answer when Telesat announced it had funding in place to build its constellation with 198 satellites. The operator also switched manufacturers from Thales Alenia Space to MDA. The constellation will be equipped with advanced technology like onboard phased array antennas, optical inter-satellite links, and onboard data processing.

In an interview shortly afterward, Dan Goldberg, Telesat CEO, told Via Satellite that as a result of the funding and deal with MDA, outreach Telesat was getting from others in the industry the move Lightspeed forward was “hugely energizing and positive.” The announcement pushed Telesat from waiting mode to execution mode.

Telesat has taken a somewhat different approach to a number of its peers such as Eutelsat, SES, and Intelsat. Telesat has gone down an organic route of investing in its own constellation. It is also interesting when you compare those operators, which have all had changes at the CEO position in recent years, while Goldberg continues to lead Telesat. There are still challenges ahead, but Telesat is back in the game. The company now has momentum and a new energy as it looks to make good on its ambitious LEO plans.

True Anomaly

True Anomaly is focused on addressing space domain awareness, security, and readiness challenges. The company provides two products: Mosaic, an integrated software platform designed to provide space domain awareness and security services; and Jackal, an autonomous orbital vehicle (AOV) designed for live and simulated rendezvous and proximity operations in space. When combined, Mosaic and Jackal could provide customers with a powerful space security toolset. In this case, AI-powered technology is being sold in a rapidly growing market as the most reliable insurance plan for long-term interests in space.

The company is taking a familiar, but proven route to success in the competitive space security market, hiring ex-government leadership to secure long-term government investment. With a license from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to operate its first two Jackal AOVs which are set to launch no earlier than March 1, True Anomaly remains on schedule to begin demonstrating its capabilities in mid-2024. That’s remarkably fast for a startup.

True Anomaly spent last year doing all the fun stuff that space startups like to do. They emerged from stealth mode with an ambitious mission statement; raised a bunch of money; and built an impressive 35,000-square foot manufacturing facility. Now, in 2024, comes the tricky part – proving the business model. True Anomaly’s business model hinges on whether or not its unique hybrid hardware/software offering will resonate with customers. If True Anomaly lives up to the hype and is able to back its claims of being able to produce a fully-tested satellite every five days, it could take a lot of legacy space companies by surprise.

Xona Space Systems

Satellite navigation systems like GPS underpin much of the world’s economy. While traditionally the area of governments, this technology is getting a commercial shakeup in recent years as startups look to provide alternative systems. Xona Space Systems is one of those companies, looking to build the next generation of satellite navigation. Xona Pulsar is a commercial satellite navigation service powered by a constellation of small satellites in LEO designed specifically to provide high-performance Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) to end users.

As a key validation of its technology last year, it announced it was partnering with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the U.S. Space Force to work toward a secure LEO PNT architecture leveraging Xona's Pulsar service. The company is backed by Lockheed Martin, which also announced a collaboration to jointly work to protect Xona’s Pulsar services in accordance with military-grade security practices.

Xona believes that its small satellite technology will be able to provide users with a secure and robust alternative to GNSS from satellites 25 times closer to Earth. It believes its Pulsar service can provide an affordable global service with more than 10 times better accuracy than GNSS. It is looking to target a variety of markets with its high-performance satellite navigation services, like maritime, agriculture, IoT, weather, critical infrastructure, and aerial mobility. Xona Space Systems has been one of the early players in the area of commercial GNSS alternatives and it will be interesting to see how it affects the satellite navigation market. VS

Read Via Satellite's previous 10 Hottest lists: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019.