Launch Providers

They build rockets, light them, and pray the payload makes it to orbit. The glamour side of space, until something explodes.

Arianespace

Arianespace is the launch provider you call when you want European ministers to nod approvingly, not when you care about cost or cadence. It was born in the Cold War…

Blue Origin

Blue Origin is the billionaire’s midlife crisis turned aerospace company, except the crisis never ends and the rockets rarely fly. Jeff Bezos poured billions into it, built gleaming facilities in…

CGWIC

China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) is Beijing’s export arm for space. It was created in 1980 under CASC to sell Long March launches, turnkey satellites, and infrastructure projects to…

Firefly Aerospace

Firefly Aerospace has made an entire business out of being the kid no one invited to the launch party. After going bankrupt in 2017, it was resurrected by Max Polyakov’s…

Gilmour Space

Gilmour Space is Australia’s attempt at having a real launch industry instead of just press conferences with kangaroos in the background. They’ve gone the hard route, build the rocket, build…

INNOSPACE is South Korea’s stab at joining the small-launcher circus. Founded in 2017, they’ve been hawking hybrid propulsion as their differentiator, paraffin and LOX in the lower stage, sometimes methane…

Skyrora

Skyrora is the latest contestant in Britain’s ongoing attempt to convince itself it has a “sovereign launch industry.” They’ve been around since 2017, loudly promising to loft small payloads to…

SpaceX

SpaceX is the rocket company that turned orbital launch into Uber Eats. Falcon 9 goes up, comes back down, does it again next week, and the world barely blinks. What…

Spinlaunch

Short version: SpinLaunch is now a satellite company that still talks about the big slingshot. The money and the near-term plan say “Meridian Space,” a 280-sat LEO broadband constellation built…

ULA

United Launch Alliance (ULA) is the aerospace equivalent of a gated retirement community. Safe, quiet, and full of people who still think the Shuttle was “modern.” It was born in…