The Space Industry
The agencies and companies actually flying: who they are, what they launch, and what comes next.
Space agencies
China
CNSA (China)
China · est. 1993
The fastest-rising space power. China runs its own crewed station (Tiangong), achieved history's first far-side lunar…
European Space Agency (ESA)
22 member states · est. 1975
Europe's pooled space program spans 22 nations. ESA specializes in audacious science firsts: landing on a comet…
ISRO (India)
India · est. 1969
India's agency is the world's masterclass in frugal engineering: first-try Mars orbit (2014), a south-polar Moon…
JAXA (Japan)
Japan · est. 2003
Japan's agency punches far above its budget: it pioneered asteroid sample return (Hayabusa, 2010), perfected it at…
NASA
United States · est. 1958
The world's flagship civilian space agency. NASA has landed people on the Moon, robots on Mars, and probes on comets…
Roscosmos (Russia)
Russia · est. 1992
Heir to the program that opened the Space Age: first satellite, first human, first spacewalk, first landings on Venus.…
Companies
Arianespace / ArianeGroup
Europe (France) · est. 1980
Europe's launcher, and the original commercial launch provider. Ariane 5 delivered half the world's big communications…
Axiom Space
United States · est. 2016
The company building the ISS's heir: Axiom flies private and national-agency astronauts to the station today and is…
Blue Origin
United States · est. 2000
Bezos's long-game space company: suborbital tourism flights since 2021, the heavy-lift New Glenn rocket (reached orbit…
Firefly Aerospace
United States · est. 2017
A Texas company that earned its place in history in March 2025 when its Blue Ghost lander touched down upright in Mare…
Intuitive Machines
United States · est. 2013
The first company to put American hardware on the Moon since 1972. Odysseus landed near the south pole in February 2024…
Rocket Lab
USA / New Zealand · est. 2006
The small-rocket champion: Electron launches boutique payloads from New Zealand and Virginia with 3D-printed engines…
Sierra Space
United States · est. 2021
Keeper of the spaceplane dream: Dream Chaser, a lifting-body shuttle descendant, is built to carry cargo (eventually…
SpaceX
United States · est. 2002
The company that normalized the impossible: orbital boosters landing tail-first and flying again (150+ reflights of…
United Launch Alliance
United States · est. 2006
The reliability institution of US launch: for years the sole ride for America's most precious payloads. ULA launched…
United States
Virgin Galactic
United States · est. 2004
The space-tourism pioneer with the winged approach: a carrier aircraft releases a rocket plane that coasts above 80 km…
Launching next full schedule →
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Crew-13
Oct 01, 15:10 UTC
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Transporter 18 (Dedicated SSO Rideshare)
Oct 01, 18:18 UTC
Falcon Heavy | NROL-97
Oct 02, 03:53 UTC
SR75 | Flight 2
Oct 05, 00:00 UTC
Falcon 9 Block 5 | SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer A
Oct 05, 08:06 UTC
Nuri | NeonSat-2 to 6
Oct 07, 03:23 UTC