KOSMOLAB Intelligence · annual report
State of the Small Satellite Supply Chain
2026 Mid-Year Edition · live web version · data: 2026-07-21 18:36 UTC
The industry counted, not estimated: every figure below is computed from the open NewSpace Market catalogue and can be verified by browsing it. The PDF is a citable snapshot; this page always shows current numbers.
Download the report (PDF)free · CC BY 4.0 · cite with a linkKey findings
What the mid-year data says about the industry
- Geography is widening. United States leads with 399 companies (25% of the catalogue), yet 157 countries host at least one space company. The long tail — from Kazakhstan to Ecuador — is where the fastest programme growth is happening.
- Satellite Platforms is the largest hardware segment (752 products), ahead of Communications (691) and ADCS & Navigation (448) — the market keeps rewarding whoever moves data, not just satellites.
- Procurement is still opaque. Published list prices exist for only a small share of catalogued hardware, and supplier-stated lead times run from stock to 40+ weeks. Component-level medians are tabulated below — including lead times, which no other public source tracks.
- Launch access keeps normalising. Published rideshare pricing starts at $6,500/kg to SSO, with 47 launch windows in the next 90 days (0 rideshare-friendly). List rates for smallsat rideshare have been slowly rising even as bulk capacity gets cheaper.
Companies by country
top 15 of 157 countries
🇺🇸 United States 399 🇨🇳 China 97 🇮🇳 India 80 🇩🇪 Germany 70 🇬🇧 United Kingdom 62 🇯🇵 Japan 56 🇫🇷 France 49 🇨🇦 Canada 43 🇷🇺 Russia 40 🇪🇸 Spain 40 🇮🇹 Italy 36 🇦🇺 Australia 31 🇰🇷 South Korea 27 🇵🇱 Poland 21 🇨🇭 Switzerland 18Products by category
top 12 hardware & service segments
Satellite Platforms 752 Communications 691 ADCS & Navigation 448 Ground Segment 446 Propulsion 431 Payloads & Instruments 368 Other Products 327 Software & Services 312 Power Systems 273 Microelectronics & Components 234 Structures & Mechanisms 215 OBC & Avionics 189Catalogue composition
who makes up the supply chain — including its most under-counted layer, academia
Component benchmarks — highlights
medians computed live from catalogued products; blank = insufficient published data (most space hardware is priced on request)
| Category | Products | Makers | Median mass | Median lead | Median price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Satellite Platforms | 752 | 382 | 50 kg | — | $1,035,000 |
| Communications | 691 | 214 | 1 kg | — | $2,390 |
| ADCS & Navigation | 448 | 92 | 0.5 kg | — | $6,000 |
| Ground Segment | 446 | 155 | 19.5 kg | — | $9,354 |
| Propulsion | 431 | 112 | 1.63 kg | — | $35,736 |
| Payloads & Instruments | 368 | 166 | 1.26 kg | — | $3,600 |
| Software & Services | 312 | 179 | 0.14 kg | — | $1,000 |
| Power Systems | 273 | 82 | 0.3 kg | — | $7,000 |
Lead-time medians (highlighted) are a NewSpace Market exclusive — no other public source tracks how long space components actually take to procure. All 17 category benchmarks →
Launch economics
published prices only — every figure carries a source and an as-of date
| Provider | Offer | Published price | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
| SpaceX | Rideshare Program (Transporter / Bandwagon) | $6,500/kg | 2026-01 |
| Rocket Lab | Electron — dedicated small launch | $25,000/kg (effective) | 2025 |
| Firefly Aerospace | Alpha — dedicated launch | $14,600/kg (effective) | 2025 |
47 launch windows are scheduled in the next 90 days, 0 of them rideshare-friendly. Sources, price history and the live window list: Launch Price Index →
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