How many launches there were, how many small satellites went up, what they weigh, what they fly on, who operates them
and how much money went in — figures from BryceTech's public reports, each with the period it covers and a link to the
page it was read from. Below them, how the hardware listed on NewSpace Market lines up against the same classes.
Every figure on this page is quoted from a public BryceTech publication and linked to it — read the original for
charts, context and method. We quote single figures only; the reports themselves are BryceTech's and are not
reproduced here. BryceTech revises its series between editions, so each figure carries its edition and period.
Launches are counted by the provider's home country (Rocket Lab counts as U.S.), failed launches included.
Orbital launches
How many rockets flew, whose they were, and what they carried.
2025325 orbital launches worldwide in 2025 (about 25% more than in 2024) put 4,544 spacecraft and 2,712,023 kg of upmass in orbit; 87% of launches were by commercial launch providers.Orbital Launches Year in Review 2025
2025Orbital launches in 2025 by provider (failures included): SpaceX 165, CASC 68, Rocket Lab 18, Roscosmos 17, Arianespace 7, Galactic Energy 6, ULA 6, CAS Space 5, ISRO 5, Chinarocket 4, ExPace 4, MHI 4, LandSpace 3, Blue Origin 2, others 1 each.Orbital Launches Year in Review 2025
2025Orbital launches in 2025 by provider country: USA 193 (59%), China 93, Russia 17, Europe 7, India 5, Japan 4, South Korea 2, Germany, Israel, Iran and Australia 1 each (counted by the provider's home country — Rocket Lab as U.S.).Orbital Launches Year in Review 2025
2025Spacecraft launched in 2025 by launch provider: SpaceX 3,854 (85% of all), CASC 266, ULA 111, Roscosmos 94, Chinarocket 43, Rocket Lab 43, Galactic Energy 29, CAS Space 27; upmass: SpaceX 2,225,403 kg, CASC 261,551 kg, ULA 70,250 kg, Roscosmos 59,273 kg.Orbital Launches Year in Review 2025
2025Spacecraft launched in 2025 by service: communications 83%, remote sensing 10%, other 3%, technology development 2%, scientific 1%; by operator: commercial 3,925, government civil 280, national security 224, non-profit/academia 115.Orbital Launches Year in Review 2025
2024In 2024: 259 orbital launches and nearly 2,900 spacecraft; nearly 60% of launches by U.S. providers, about 70% by commercial providers; small satellites were 97% of spacecraft.Global Space Launch Activity in 2024
Q2 2026Q2 2026 (April–June): 81 orbital launches (+3% year on year) — USA 47 (58%, six U.S. providers), China 26, Russia 4, Europe 2; SpaceX 37, CASC 18, Rocket Lab 4, Roscosmos 4; 1,150 spacecraft and 732,519 kg of upmass.Q2 2026 Global Space Activity (Bryce Briefing)
Q1 2026Q1 2026 (January–March): 72 orbital launches (+6% year on year) — USA 47 (65%), China 18, Russia 4; SpaceX 40, CASC 12, Rocket Lab 5, Roscosmos 4; 1,216 spacecraft (+35%).Q1 2026 Global Space Activity (Bryce Briefing)
Small satellites launched
Spacecraft of 1,200 kg and under — nearly everything that reaches orbit now.
20254,466 smallsats (spacecraft of 1,200 kg and under) were launched in 2025 — 98% of all spacecraft launched (2024: 97%) and 85% of spacecraft upmass (2024: 82%).Smallsats by the Numbers 2026 (July 2026), p. 2
2025Smallsats by mission type in 2025: LEO broadband megaconstellations 79%, remote sensing 10%, other communications 6%, technology development 2%, other 2%, scientific 1%.Smallsats by the Numbers 2026 (July 2026), p. 2
How heavy they are
Which mass classes are actually being flown.
2025Excluding LEO broadband constellations, smallsats launched in 2025 split by mass class: pico 5%, nano 30%, micro 37%, mini 15%, small 12% (nano was 53% in 2016).Smallsats by the Numbers 2026 (July 2026), p. 9
Rideshare on large rockets versus dedicated small launchers.
2025Only 4% of smallsats launched in 2025 flew on small or micro launch vehicles (2024: 6%); excluding LEO broadband, about 60 smallsats a year have flown on small vehicles over the past ten years.Smallsats by the Numbers 2026 (July 2026), p. 2
2021–2025Of 14,347 smallsats launched 2021–2025, about 89% flew on Falcon 9 (75% of all were LEO broadband satellites on it), 4% on Soyuz 2.1a/b; Long March 2D/2C, LVM3, Electron, Vega, Long March 6/6A and Kinetica 1 about 1% each.Smallsats by the Numbers 2026 (July 2026), p. 31
2016–2025Launches carrying smallsats in 2025: 212 on medium-to-super-heavy vehicles and 47 on micro/small vehicles (2024: 157 / 44; 2016: 22 / 7).Smallsats by the Numbers 2026 (July 2026)
Who operates them
How concentrated the fleet is, and where operators are based.
2025305 different operators launched smallsats in 2025 (2024: 222); 133 of them deployed their first smallsat, 172 had launched before.Smallsats by the Numbers 2026 (July 2026), p. 14
2016–2025Commercial operators with over 30 active smallsats launched 2016–2025: SpaceX 9,380, Eutelsat (OneWeb) 652, Amazon 180, Planet 152, Chang Guang 96, Shanghai Spacecom 76, Iridium 75, Geespace 63, Sitronics 51, Spire 43, ICEYE 39, Yunyao 32. Over 80% of the 11,754 active commercial smallsats belong to 7 operators.Smallsats by the Numbers 2026 (July 2026), p. 15
2016–2025Smallsats launched 2016–2025 by operator country: USA 13,143 (of them Starlink 10,803), China 1,299, United Kingdom 709, Russia 301, Japan 166, France 99, Italy 85, Germany 74, Canada 74 — 16,931 in total.Smallsats by the Numbers 2026 (July 2026), p. 16
Start-up investment
Private money into space start-ups, by year and by segment.
2025Start-up space investment reached $10.9B in 2025 (highest since 2021) across 235 deals and 208 companies; 397 first-time investors. Venture capital was 79% ($8.6B, 214 deals); four IPOs raised $1.3B.Start-Up Space 2026
2025U.S. start-ups received $7.3B of the 2025 total, about two-thirds (2024: $4B).Start-Up Space 2026
2016–2025Start-up space investment 2016–2025: $73.8B across 1,789 deals (81% venture capital). Share of money by segment: launch 34%, satellite telecom 20%, spacecraft manufacturing 12%, commercial human spaceflight 10%, remote sensing 9%, in-space servicing (ISAM) 6%, geospatial analytics 4%, ground equipment 3%.Start-Up Space 2026
2016–2025By number of deals 2016–2025: spacecraft manufacturing 21%, launch 17%, geospatial analytics 16% (the top three; the rest are not published). Distinct investors by segment: spacecraft manufacturing 710, geospatial analytics 641, launch 630, ISAM 453, remote sensing 436, satellite telecom 392, ground equipment 241.Start-Up Space 2026
2016–2025Most frequent start-up space investors 2016–2025 (20+ deals): Seraphim, Techstars, Airbus, Y Combinator, Lockheed Martin, Space Capital, Lux.Start-Up Space 2026
2024Start-up space investment in 2024: $7.8B across 220 deals (2023: 242); U.S. companies $4B, Chinese companies $1.9B (24% of the total).Start-Up Space 2025
The space economy
The whole market, of which small satellites are one part.
2024The global space economy was $415B in 2024; the satellite industry was $293B of it (71%), growing 3% (6% excluding video); the non-satellite part (government space budgets, commercial human spaceflight) was $122B.2024 Global Satellite Industry Revenues
2024Satellite industry segments in 2024: ground equipment $155.3B (GNSS $118.9B, consumer $18.6B, network $17.7B), satellite services $108.3B (consumer $85.2B, enterprise $19.7B, remote sensing $3.5B), satellite manufacturing $20B ($13.8B U.S.), launch $9.3B ($6.1B U.S.; 224 of 259 launches commercially procured).2024 Global Satellite Industry Revenues
What is flown, and what is offered here
The market column is BryceTech's split of small satellites launched in 2025 by mass class, leaving out broadband
megaconstellations (Starlink, OneWeb and the like, which buy their own buses). The catalogue column counts the
satellite platforms listed on NewSpace Market by the spacecraft mass they are built for — or, where a supplier gives
only the platform's own mass, by that, which understates the class. 174 of
267 listed platforms state a mass; the rest are not counted.
Mass class
Spacecraft mass
Share launched in 2025
Platforms listed here
pico
0.1–1 kg
5%
21 · 13%
nano
1.1–10 kg
30%
38 · 23%
micro
11–200 kg
37%
77 · 47%
mini
201–600 kg
15%
20 · 12%
small
601–1,200 kg
12%
7 · 4%
Market shares: Smallsats by the Numbers 2026, p. 9, read from the chart.
Catalogue: counted 2026-10-15. A platform count measures what suppliers list, not what they sell.
Launches ahead, by rocket class
The 476 launch windows still ahead on NewSpace Market,
grouped by what the rocket can lift to low Earth orbit (capacity from Launch Library 2; classes as BryceTech defines them).
34 rockets have no published LEO capacity and are left out.
Rocket class
Mass to LEO
Launch windows ahead
micro
up to 500 kg
66 · 15%
small
501–2,268 kg
26 · 6%
medium
2,269–5,443 kg
28 · 6%
intermediate
5,444–11,340 kg
23 · 5%
heavy
11,341–30,000 kg
246 · 56%
super heavy
over 30,000 kg
53 · 12%
Definitions used here
FAA mass classes used by BryceTech: femto 0.01–0.09 kg, pico 0.1–1 kg, nano 1.1–10 kg, micro 11–200 kg, mini 201–600 kg, small 601–1,200 kg; smallsats are the six classes up to 1,200 kg. Smallsats by the Numbers 2026 (July 2026), p. 3
Launch vehicle classes by LEO capacity (BryceTech): micro ≤500 kg, small 500–2,268 kg, medium 2,269–5,443 kg, intermediate 5,444–11,340 kg, heavy 11,341–30,000 kg, super heavy >30,000 kg. Smallsats by the Numbers 2026 (July 2026), p. 27
NewSpace Market uses the same classes: ask the MRD console
for «a microsat platform» or «launches on a small launcher» and it filters by them.
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