36 Aerospace Companies Extending Our Reach

In an era of rapid technological development, perhaps the most impactful human achievement of the 20th century was making a foray into space. 

From Sputnik’s launch and the moon landing to the present day, orbital flight has proven to be crucial to understanding more about both the solar system and life on Earth. The International Space Station and large quantities of satellites provide us with revolutionary methods of collecting, researching and transmitting data like deep-space photographs and aerial maps of Earth. Several manned missions to the Moon have allowed human life to touch down on uncharted terrain, and today, spacecraft tech and rover capabilities carry on the research and discover more about our neighboring systems.

What cannot be overlooked is the tremendous amount of effort and dedication of those working with aerospace companies to advance innovation. These companies each possess unique capabilities crucial for ensuring spacecrafts and satellites are safe, reliable and efficient.

 

36 Aerospace Companies to Know

Location: Broomfield, Colorado

Gogo Business Aviation offers broadband internet connectivity for the business aviation market. It keeps travelers connected through features like smart cabin systems for integrated connectivity and in-flight entertainment. Using emerging technology, the company is launching Gogo Galileo, a project that provides broadband service through an electronically steered antenna  on a low-Earth orbit, or LEO, satellite network.  

 

Location: Fully Remote

ForeFlight makes flight planning software for pilots. Owned by aerospace giant Boeing, the company’s apps support individuals and flight crews. With features for managing things like  runway analysis, flight dispatch, fuel monitoring and flight data analysis, pilots can keep tabs on everything they need to know from a single, mobile-optimized dashboard.

 

Location: Englewood, Colorado

When DISH merged with EchoStar, the company went all in on aerospace offerings. With DISH’s widespread 5G coverage and EchoStar’s JUPITER 3 GEO satellite, the company is able to provide global connectivity services under various consumer and business brands, including DISH Wireless, DISH TV, Hughes and Hughesnet. 

 

Location: Costa Mesa, California

Anduril is an aerospace and defense tech company that makes software for autonomous assets, which are uncrewed crafts that operate on land, in the sky and at sea without a human onboard. The company’s Lattice platform connects various autonomous entities so that a single human can control them remotely, coordinating missions across locations and contexts from one operator site.

 

Location: Alameda, California

Astra makes engines for spacecraft using electric propulsion technology and provides launch services for space missions. Astra reached a key milestone in 2021, succeeding in its first commercial launch to low Earth orbit. The company says its launch systems are designed to be cost efficient with a payload capacity of approximately 600 kg.

 

Location: El Segundo, California

Skyryse is an aviation tech company that sells a flight automation tech stack for pilots (and aspiring pilots). Its FlightOS system includes standardized trainings and inflight automations that allow experienced pilots to fly new types of planes and help newbie pilots safely become ready for flight in less time than traditional aviation school. FlightOS can be retrofitted onto any plane and allows the pilot to fly using a touchscreen and a joystick.

 

Location: Lafayette, Colorado

Orbit Fab provides refueling services for spacecrafts, with the intention of facilitating an industry shift away from single-use crafts. Its tagline is “gas stations in space,” and to date, the company has served the International Space Station with water and has established a commercial fuel depot — a gas station — in low Earth orbit.

 

Location: Chicago, Illinois

Boeing is a global leader in aerospace and aviation innovation, utilizing vast industry expertise and state-of-the-art technologies to soar higher with more efficiency. Operating within the commercial aviation, defense and space industries provides Boeing with opportunities to create cross-functional technology to solve for a range of challenges at once, continually transforming processes for exceptional performance.

 

Location: Broomfield, Colorado

Sierra Space’s ambitious long-term vision is to house businesses and people in space. To achieve this goal, Sierra Space is working on a winged commercial space plane that can hold up to 12,000 pounds of supplies and equipment. Its other technologies include a microgravity-flexible environment for long-duration missions and a new commercial space station that could be used for tourism.

 

Location: Louisville, Colorado

Tendeg helps organizations communicate better with its deployable space antenna technology. The company’s antennas, deployable structures for sensor applications and other communication lines are meant for both commercial and governmental use. The company missions include LEO, GEO and lunar communication, synthetic aperture radar and Earth Sciences.

 

Location: Austin, Texas

The travel tech company Snowfall consolidates various modes of travel into a single booking transaction and user experience. Partnered with major airlines, Snowfall’s travel platform Junction allows travelers to purchase one bespoke ticket that takes them door to door. As technology continues to push the bounds of consumer aerospace, Snowfall is well positioned to serve the cutting-edge traveler.

 

Location: El Segundo, California

Vast is an aerospace startup that has (you guessed it) vast ambitions to create livable areas in space so we can better preserve Earth’s biosphere. The company is at work developing in-space infrastructure that can expand across the entire solar system and artificial gravity that eliminates space-wrought bone deterioration. Vast is also working on zero-gravity environments for people who want to remain weightless while completing daily tasks.

 

Location: Austin, Texas

Wilder Systems wants to see a future where manufacturing tasks are completed by modular, autonomous robots, so the company supplies robots as a service for industrial service enterprises. The company works with commercial and governmental enterprises specifically interested in aerospace applications. Wilder Systems robots can drill aircraft, seal, do non-destructive inspections and more.

 

Location: Boston, Massachusetts  

Subsidiary company GE Aviation, credited with manufacturing the United States’ first jet plane engine, has been creating aviation, healthcare and energy industry technologies for over 100 years. In 2021, the company and others entered into a five-year contract to ground-test hybrid electric engine cores for single-aisle aircrafts, as part of NASA’s Electric Powertrain Flight Demonstration project. The electric propulsion technologies are showing good signs that they may allow future aircrafts to save fuel and optimize engine performance.

 

Location: Longmont, Colorado 

The next frontier of technology lies beyond Earth’s boundaries, and Honeybee Robotics is prepared for this upcoming chapter of innovation. With over 30 years of experience, the company has become an expert in the areas of motion control, space exploration, and infrastructure systems. Organizations like NASA can depend on the creative solutions of Honeybee Robotics to power spacecraft and space mining missions that usher in an exciting period of advancement.

 

Location: Bethesda, Maryland 

Lockheed Martin is an aerospace and security company with manufacturing expertise in aircraft, satellite, radar and other technologies. Callisto, created in collaboration with Amazon and Cisco, is an AI-based telecommunications software tool being used to transmit information while aboard the Orion aircraft in NASA’s Artemis I mission. Meanwhile, exploration spacecraft Lucy is en route to visit Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids in a mission set to last until 2033.

 

Location: Torrance, California

Epirus develops power management systems and counter-electronics with defense and commercial applications. Its line of Leonidas counter-electronic systems are designed to quickly neutralize drone threats. And with the Epirus’ SmartPower platform, companies can efficiently manage several advanced HPMs at once.

 

Location: San Francisco, California

PlanetLabs specializes in using space and satellite technology to improve the productivity of some of the most crucial industries on Earth. The company offers a variety of products to bolster capabilities like planetary mapping, monitoring, archiving and analytic tracking. Its products provide a clearer understanding of how to accomplish tasks in the agriculture, energy, government, finance and education industries.

 

Location: Plano, Texas

Advanced Integration Technology is a veteran in the aerospace industry. The company provides automation systems and aerospace tooling globally by designing, fabricating and installing its products. Over the past 25 years, AIT has developed engineering solutions such as friction-stir welding and laser-indexing to improve joint flexibility and minimize defects in parts. The company also offers maintenance services for fully integrated systems.

 

Location: Atlanta, Georgia

With the partnerships of government agencies like NASA and the U.S. Air Force, Hermeus is accelerating air travel. Hermeus is building the Mach 5, a hypersonic aircraft, which is predicted to allow travelers to fly across the Atlantic in 90 minutes. The company’s other products include Quarterhorse and its engine Chimera.

 

Location: San Francisco, California

Archer is advancing sustainable air mobility and has partnered with United Airlines. The company is constructing a fully electric aircraft, called eVTOL, that can fly four passengers at 150 miles per hour, as well as take off and land vertically, like a helicopter. By 2024, Archer expects to complete flight testing through the Federal Aviation Administration.

 

Location: El Segundo, California 

With the only federally funded research and development center dedicated to the space enterprise, The Aerospace Corporation helps fine-tune launch processes, develop satellite systems and troubleshoot problems with laboratory tests. As space exploration looms on the horizon, The Aerospace Corporation continues to provide valuable insights for the next phase of space technology.

 

Location: Lafayette, Colorado

Ursa Major Technologies focuses on the development of high-performing, low-cost aerospace engines that reduce timelines and add more reliability to vehicles entering orbit. Engines available from the company utilize multiple fuel types for advanced propulsion across use cases and are available at several price points for varied innovation.

 

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Location: Leiden, Netherlands 

Known for creating the A380 passenger airliner, Airbus manufactures and delivers aviation and aerospace technologies. The company’s hardware aids in aerospace observation, navigation, telecommunications and more. Currently, Airbus has over 50 geostationary satellites in operation and is part of the European Space Agency’s industrial operator team for the ISS.

 

 

Location: New York, New York

AI SpaceFactory is intently focused on creating groundbreaking technology to facilitate the expansion of human life both on and off of Earth. The company has developed TERA, a sustainable 3D-printed structure with a renewable and recyclable exterior shell that provides a more efficient model for building on Earth and the potential for survival on Mars and the Moon.

 

Location: Greenwood Village, Colorado

Argus International provides a variety of aviation safety and software services that empower flight providers to build the strongest business possible, pushing the boundaries of industry success. FAA certification, air carrier audits, business aviation audits, flight tracking and custom reporting services are all available from ARGUS International to fill in knowledge gaps and facilitate more efficient practices that keep flights soaring smoothly.

 

Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts

Aurora Flight Sciences is an industry leader in the development and manufacturing of advanced unmanned aircraft systems and aerospace vehicles, focusing on developing technologies for long-endurance travel, robotic co-pilots, autonomous craft and more. Much of the company’s recent success has come while collaborating with Boeing on the rapid prototyping of both commercial and military aircraft and structural assemblies. The company utilizes build-to-print and rapid prototyping techniques with advanced composite materials to drive costs down and improve quality, performance and safety.

 

Location: Boulder, Colorado

Blue Canyon Technologies has goals of expanding the frontiers and possibilities of science and defense through turnkey space exploration solutions that facilitate multiple use cases. Specializing in producing multiple variations of efficient, high-performing satellite technology, Blue Canyon brings nearly two decades of aerospace engineering expertise to the table when fulfilling private and government contracts, also providing component manufacturing and mission success services.

 

Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado

Bluestaq partners with companies in aerospace and additional software-dependent industries to provide collaboration and deployment solutions that lead to innovative approaches to longtime processes. An expertise in data management, analytics, security and administration provides Bluestaq with the ability to design systems that best protect and facilitate its clients’ data needs. Some of their solutions include revolutionary Space Situational Awareness mission software created using astro-dynamics, artificial intelligence and advanced mathematical modeling techniques.

 

Location: Englewood, Colorado

Boom Supersonic is committed to developing an innovative, sustainable and safe way to bring supersonic flight back to our skies. The company’s first line of supersonic aircraft, Overture, is a passenger jet that utilizes a carbon fiber composite fuselage and turbofan engines to provide efficiency and cut flight times by as much as half. Overture aircrafts are expected to begin production by 2024 and carry out passenger flights by 2029.

 

Location: Boulder, Colorado

Flatirons Solutions works with airlines, aviation manufacturers and MRO workers to solve complex information management issues and turn data into actionable information. The company’s managed content, fleet management and manufacturing management platforms help organize information needed for day-to-day operations and publishing technical information, working alongside existing teams to provide support in the areas where it is needed most.

 

Location: Prospect Heights, Illinois

Kranze Technology Solutions works with the U.S. defense industry to develop aerial solutions that keep manned and unmanned craft alert to danger that lies before them. Specializing in infrared countermeasure systems, digital interoperability, tactical networking and program support, Kranze Technology Solutions continues to expand its offerings to combat developing challenges and provide maximum support to protect lives.

 

Location: Westminster, Colorado

Maxar Technologies offers products and systems that support a number of industries, focusing largely on space tech and the benefits it provides on Earth. Satellite assembly/servicing and robotic surveillance technology allow Maxar Technologies to contribute to dynamic mission success while providing mapping and analytics capabilities that deliver groundbreaking knowledge to the energy, mining, telecommunications and commercial mapping industries.

 

Location: Hawthorne, California

SpaceX is a focal point of innovation when it comes to aerospace research, development and deployment, launching several spacecraft into orbit and continuing to push the boundaries of exploration. The company’s Dragon spacecraft is among the few vehicles to deliver and return cargo to the ISS and is capable of transporting up to seven passengers in and out of orbit at once, demonstrating significant progress in the race for private passenger space travel.

 

Location: Culver City, California

Zoic Labs exists at the intersection of data, narrative, design, technology and collaboration to create advanced visualization technologies for multiple use cases. Working with private companies and government sectors alike, Zoic Labs’ visualization tech can be utilized for remote sensing, AIS ship tracking, electromagnetic sensing and more. The company’s sister company, Zoic Studios, provides advanced graphics and storytelling capabilities to film, television, gaming and VR productions.

Location: Broomfield, Colorado

With over half a century of experience, BAE Systems, Inc. continues to be a pillar in space innovation. The company has perfected its first-class technology producing stealth antennas, scientific instruments and spacecraft products. It also reinforces each product with data-based insights, allowing customers to embrace a cutting-edge approach with confidence.