Reality Rating

Beyond Earth Orbit Communication Database

Beyond Earth Orbit Communication Database

This is the second installment of our  SpaceFund Reality (SFR) rating.  The focus of this SFR is a sub-sector of the Communication sector, specifically Beyond Earth Orbit communications. In this category, the other sub-sector being tracked by SpaceFund is Terrestrial/Earth Orbit communications (e.g., ‘bent pipe’ Earth to Earth communications, including traditional communications satellites, internet providers, and ground-based receivers). While the Terrestrial/Earth Orbit sub-sector is vastly larger and more mature than the Beyond Earth Orbit category, since SpaceFund is dedicated to supporting frontier-enabling companies, we decided to analyze the Beyond Earth Orbit sub-sector first. It is also important to note that a number of companies in the Beyond Earth Orbit category may also fall into the Terrestrial/Earth Orbit category, as there are many business models and products that cross over between the two sub-sectors. However, in this database, we’ve focused exclusively on those companies who are targeting deep space communications as part of their long-term business plan.

The Beyond Earth Orbit Communications SpaceFund Reality rating (SFR) is a detailed database of more than 50 companies from all over the world that are either actively creating, or planning to create, technology and services to enable communications beyond Earth orbit. While there are many other companies who are creating products and service that may eventually become part of deep-space communications networks, those listed below have publicly proclaimed their intention to do so. Each company has been assigned an SFR rating based on our analysis, publicly available data, and expert insights.

If you haven’t already, please consult our SpaceFund Reality (SFR) ratings page to learn more about the rating, its purpose, and the underlying formula, as well as to view a complete list of the SpaceFund sectors of interest. 

How to Use This Table

Sort: Click on the column heading to sort A-Z; click again to sort Z-A.

Search: To search within the entire table, simply type your query into the search area at the top right of the table. If you’d like to search within a specific column, use the search box at the bottom of that column.

Download: You can download this table as an Excel or CSV file by using the icons at the top of the table. You can also print the table.

Screen Size: The database is too big to fit on most screens, so you’ll need to use the scroll bar at the bottom of your screen to scroll right to see additional columns, and continuing scrolling down to see all companies. 

Important Note (Alpha Sort Columns vs Numeric Sort Columns): In the Data Rate column, any figure listed as a “0” is simply a placeholder for unavailable data. This is due to the nature of this table format, and to ensure that the columns sort properly, a numeric character must be included in each cell. So, for example, if a company is listed to have a data rate of “0” this simply means that this information is not publicly available and the “0” acts as a replacement for “N/A”.  

The Funding and Price columns are set to sort alphabetically. Since these columns contains alphabetic characters in some cells, they will sort alphabetically, not numerically and so the “-” character has been used to represent unavailable data. All other columns in the table will also sort alphabetically.

Important Note (Companies not Products): This database, and the SpaceFund Reality ratings, are based on COMPANIES, not specific products or technologies. 

 

How to Provide Updated Data

Have we missed your company? Do you feel that your company should have a different rating? Is the listed data inaccurate or outdated? Do you see missing data for your company? The best way to update your information in this database is to reach out to us directly to provide additional information about your technology, management team, funding history, and company progress. We are also eager to learn about any additional data sources that can help us in our ongoing research, so please feel free to share any resources you know of with our team.

Updates will be published as new information becomes available.  

SpaceFund Reality (SFR) Rating

Beyond Earth Orbit Communications Database

 Last Update: April 19, 2021

wdt_ID Company SFR Type Frequency Bands Funding ($M) Data Rate (Mbps) Price Country HQ Location Description
236 AAC Clyde Space 9 Space to Space S-, X-, VHF, UHF Public 100 - Sweden Uppsala Off-the-shelf platforms, individual subsystems, and ground segment solutions, for satellite missions
237 Aerospace Corp 9 Relay Optical - 100 - USA El Segundo, CA Testing the AeroCube laser communication system to demonstrate high-speed optical transmission of data
238 Amazon (AWS Ground Station) 9 Space to Ground S-, X-, UHF Joint Venture 0 - USA Seattle, WA AWS Ground Station enables you to control and ingest data from orbiting satellites without having to buy or build satellite ground station infrastructure
239 Atlas Space Operations 9 Space to Ground S-, X-, UHF, VHF 13 1,000 - USA Traverse City, MI Introducing the first commercially available deep space communications network
240 GomSpace 9 Space to Space S-, UHF, VHF Public 0 - Denmark Aalborg Wide range of radio communication solutions for nanosatellites
241 Honeywell 9 Space to Space X- Public 600 - USA Phoenix, AZ Creates products for space markets such as navigation and communications systems
242 Innovative Solutions in Space 9 Space to Space S-, UHF, VHF - 3 $9,760 Netherlands Delft Communication systems for cubesat missions
243 KinetX Aerospace 9 Space to Space X- - 0 - USA Tempe, AZ Deep space communications development
244 LGS Innovations 9 Space to Space Optical 60 0 - USA Herndon, VA Designing and building laser amplification and targeting solutions for free-space optical communications
245 Maxar Technologies 9 Space to Space C-, Ka-, Ku-, L-, S-, V-, UHF Public 0 - USA Westminster, CO MDA (a Maxar company) is a global leader in the design, fabrication, and testing of innovative antenna & RF products
246 NanoAvionics 9 Space to Space S-, UHF 0.69 1 Lithuania Vilnius Flight proven communication subsystems
247 Northrop Grumman 9 Space to Ground Ka- Public 9,000 - USA Dulles, VA Leader in the development and manufacture of multi-gigabit-per-second Kt and Ka band communication links
248 Oxford Space Systems 9 Space to Space Ka- 13.12 0 - United Kingdom Harwell, England Oxford Space Systems is developing innovative deployable antennas and structures that meet the challenges of the new space age
249 Pumpkin Space Systems 9 Space to Space - - 0 $7,900 USA San Francisco, CA Providing nanosatellite components and complete CubeSats to government, commercial and educational organizations
250 RBC Signals 9 Space to Ground C-, Ka-, Ku-, S-, X-, UHF, VHF 1.95 0 - USA Redmond, WA RBC provides real-time access to satellites via their global ground station network.
251 Space Applications Services 9 Space to Ground - - 0 - Belgium Zaventem Researching and developing innovative systems, solutions and products, and providing services for space exploration
252 Space Micro 9 Space to Space Ka-, S-, X-, Optical - 100,000 - USA San Diego, CA Innovative, affordable and high performance digital, RF, and attitude determination products
253 Surrey Satellite Technology 9 Space to Space X- - 0 - United Kingdom Guildford, England Pioneers of the use of new technologies on satellite products and services
254 Syrlinks 9 Space to Space K, Ka-, L-, S-, X- - 600 - France Cesson-Sévigné Specialized in the development of radiocommunication and radio frequency products for space activity
255 Thales Alenia Space 9 Space to Space - Joint Venture 0 - France Cannes Design, operate and deliver satellite-based systems that help customers position and connect anyone or anything
256 Akash Systems 8 Space to Space K- 17.6 14,000 - USA San Francisco, CA Creating small, cost effective, powerful satellites able to provide terabit data-rates and exciting new applications for Earth, Deep Space, or even human Space colonies
257 Antwerp Space 8 Space to Space Ka-, X- - 300 - Belgium Antwerp European leader in the field of RF systems and satellite communications
258 Astro Digital 8 Space to Space Ka-, S-, V-, X-, UHF, Optical 23.17 320 - USA Santa Clara, CA On-board systems for cube sat communications
259 Endurosat 8 Space to Space S-, X-, UHF 1.07 50 $23,545 Bulgaria Sofia Designs, builds and space-qualifies the new type of CubeSats for a range of missions from low Earth orbit to Solar System exploration
260 EOS 8 Space to Ground Optical Public 0 - Australia Hume, ACT Developing space optical communication systems
261 Goonhilly Earth Station 8 Space to Ground C-, Ka-, Ku-, S-, X- 38.68 0 - United Kingdom Helston, England Goonhilly is developing the capability to support the exploration of Lunar and Deep Space for institutions and private enterprise
262 Microsoft (Azure Space) 8 SPace to Ground 0 USA Redmond, WA Incorporating Azure as the platform and ecosystem of choice for the mission needs of the space community
263 SpaceQuest 8 Space to Space L-, S-, UHF, VHF - 0 - USA Fairfax, VA Specializing in the design, development, testing and manufacture of space and ground components
264 Tethers Unlimited 8 Space to Space K-, S-, X-, UHF - 100 - USA Bothell, WA Software-defined radios providing high-performance communications for CubeSats and other small spacecraft
265 Arralis 7 Space to Space Ka- - 0 - Ireland Limerick Developing a new electronically steerable antenna for spacecraft
266 Astrapi Corporation 7 Space to Space - 2.8 0 - USA Dallas, TX Astrapi is the leader in a revolutionary method of communication – spiral-based modulation
267 Leaf Space 7 Space to Ground S-, X-, UHF, VHF 8.1 300 - Italy Lomazzo, Como Leaf Space provides ground segment as a service, tailored to your needs
268 Mynaric 7 Relay Optical Public 10,000 Germany Gilching Developing and manufacturing laser products allowing for high data rate and long-distance wireless data transmission between moving objects space applications
269 Nokia 7 Space to Space UHF Public 0 - Finland Espoo Deploying a 4G wireless network on the Moon
270 Analytical Space 6 Relay S-, X-, Optical 4 0 - USA Cambridge, MA Analytical Space's dream is to one day be the data railroad for the solar system and beyond
271 Callisto 6 Space to Space Ka-, S-, X- - 0 - France Villefranche-de-Lauragais Callisto designs and manufactures high performance LNAs with associated hardware and software
272 CELIS 6 Space to Ground C-, L-, K-, Ka-, S-, X- - 0 - Spain Madrid CELIS is a Spanish company specialized in Ground Segment Systems, Solutions, and Services
273 Infostellar 6 Space to Ground - 7.85 0 $2.7/min Japan Tokyo Deep space internet for a spacefaring humankind; quick, flexible ground station aggregator for newspace satellite services
274 Intuitive Machines 6 Space to Space - 6 - USA Houston, TX Providing data communications and power services to assets both in lunar orbit and on the surface of the Moon
275 mBryonics 6 Space to Ground Optical - 10,000 - Ireland Galway Developing end-to-end system architecture for a complete satellite optical communications network
276 Orbit:Linx (by Spacebit) 6 Space to Ground - Joint Venture 0 - United Kingdom London, England Creating a more efficient model for access to low-Earth and deep space communication networks using the blockchain
277 PointView Tech (Facebook) 6 Relay Optical Public 0 USA Los Angeles, CA Researching laser communications for potential space mission applications
278 Xenesis 6 Space to Ground Optical - 10,000 - USA Lisle, IL Xenesis Hub is the first low-cost laser communications space transceiver
279 CesiumAstro 5 Space to Space Ka-, Ku- 22.65 0 - USA Austin, TX Designing out-of-the-box communication systems for satellites, launch vehicles, and other space platforms
280 Empower Space 5 Relay Laser Joint Venture 100,000 - USA Mountain View, CA Providing a turnkey direct-optical data distribution service for cislunar and deep space applications
281 Helical Communication 5 Space to Space UHF - 0 $475 USA Rockledge, FL Specialized antennas for use with ground-based and space-based communication with satellites placed in low earth orbit and deep space
282 Hypergiant 5 Space to Space - - 0 - USA Austin, TX Developing an interplanetary internet (IPN) for the solar system and an open data protocol for better communication and data transfer
283 Laser Light 5 Relay Optical - 200,000 - USA Reston, VA Connecting Empower Space Alliance's all-optical Space-to-Earth data distribution network
284 PTS (w/ Vodafone) 5 Space to Ground UHF - 0 - Germany Berlin Setting up a LTE base-station on the Moon to provide the start of a communications infrastructure for future lunar missions
285 Transcelestial 5 Space to Ground Optical 11.44 100,000 - Singapore Singapore Developing a constellation of nanosatellites for ground, space and deep space communications applications
286 Aquarian Space 4 Space to Space - 0.05 300 - USA Boulder, CO Enabling deep space exploration through a revolutionary solar system wide high capacity communications network
287 Solstar 4 Space to Ground - 0.338 0 - USA Santa Fe, NM Providing commercial internet/communications services to astronauts and machines in space
288 Celestial 3 Relay S-, X- - 0 - Germany Berlin Enabling cis-lunar communication to support a growing space economy
289 NanoRaven 3 Space to Space - - 0 - France Montpellier Our mission is to provide highly reliable communications solutions for onboard data processing for CubeSats
290 CommStar Space 2 Relay RF, Optical - 0 - USA Reston, VA Transforming the way space communications are delivered, operated, and made accessible
291 TXMission 2 Space to Space S-, X- - 500 - USA Santa Barbara, CA Specializing in smallsat modem communications for the New Space industry
292 Astrogate Labs 1 Relay Optical - 0 - India Bangaluru, Karnataka Building the entire chain of optical communication systems
293 GroundCom 1 Space to Ground - - 0 - Czech Republic Brno Creating a network of ground stations that will provide communication as a service to mission operators
294 Indicium 1 Space to Space Optical - 0 - Canada - Deploying a fully independent data center on the Moon for future lunar infrastructure and space missions as well as for terrestrial purposes
295 Plus Ultra 2 Space to Space Ka-, S-, Optical - 100 - Spain Madrid Developing a LLO satellite constellation for high-speed, 24/7, on demand communications and GPS-like navigation services anywhere on the Moon
235 Tyvak (Terran Orbital) 9 Space to Space S-, UHF 44.5 46 - USA Irvine, CA Nanosatellite and CubeSat space vehicle products and services to support operational and scientifically relevant missions
Company SFR Type Frequency Bands Funding ($M) Data Rate (Mbps) Price Country HQ Location Description

SpaceFund Sectors of Interest

SpaceFund is interested in a number of sectors of the space economy, specifically Transportation, Communication, Human Factors, Supplies, and Energy. In the coming months we will post SFR ratings for companies from all of these sectors, providing a robust overview of the state of frontier-enabling companies across the industry. Please check back frequently to view new sub-sector databases, and sign up to receive our emails to be notified of each new release.

Click on the black buttons below to view the available SFR databases.