Private Space Companies

Launch Providers  •  Space Stations  •  Lunar & Deep Space  •  Notable  •  Property Rights

Private space companies are building the infrastructure that could make permanent human settlement beyond Earth a reality.

From reusable rockets to commercial space stations to lunar landers, these firms are solving the transportation and habitation challenges that governments have spent decades studying but never fully committed to funding.

The private space industry has matured rapidly. SpaceX now dominates global launch, Blue Origin has joined the orbital club, and the first standalone commercial space station could reach orbit within two years.

In February 2026, SpaceX announced a major strategic shift toward building a self-sustaining city on the Moon, complete with lunar manufacturing and electromagnetic mass drivers. That announcement underscores how fast the industry is moving, and how seriously private enterprise is taking permanent settlement.

These companies are privately held, so direct stock investment is not possible. For publicly traded space companies, visit the public space companies page. To support the broader effort, consider lobbying Congress for space development legislation such as the Space Settlement Prize Act, or volunteering with the companies listed below. Many are actively hiring.

Launch Providers

Getting to space affordably and reliably is the foundation of everything else. Without low-cost launch, space stations are unaffordable, lunar missions are one-offs, and settlement is impossible. The companies below are building the rockets that make the rest of this page possible.

Current Companies (Updated Feb. 2026)

• Blue Origin LLC. (Website) Aerospace manufacturer and spaceflight services company founded by Jeff Bezos. Blue Origin successfully debuted its New Glenn heavy-lift orbital rocket in 2025 and continues to operate the New Shepard suborbital vehicle. The company is also developing the Blue Moon lunar lander for NASA's Artemis program. Locations: Kent, Washington; Cape Canaveral, Florida; Culberson County, Texas. Established in 2000.

• Relativity Space. (Website) Pioneering aerospace manufacturing by using massive 3D printers to build rockets. The company is developing the Terran R, a fully reusable, 3D-printed medium-to-heavy lift launch vehicle. Location: Long Beach, California. Established in 2015.

• SpaceX. (Website) The world's dominant private launch provider. SpaceX operates the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, the Dragon spacecraft, and the Starlink satellite constellation. Its Starship super-heavy lift system is in active flight testing, with NASA's Artemis lunar missions depending on a modified Starship lander. In February 2026, SpaceX announced a strategic pivot toward building a self-sustaining city on the Moon, including lunar manufacturing facilities and electromagnetic mass drivers to launch payloads into orbit. An IPO has long been anticipated, though no timeline has been confirmed. Founder: Elon Musk. Locations: Hawthorne, California; Boca Chica, Texas. Established in 2002.

• Stoke Space. (Website) Developing a fully reusable rocket designed to fly daily. Known for a novel active cooling heat shield technology for rocket second stages. Location: Kent, Washington. Established in 2019.

• United Launch Alliance (ULA). (Website) A joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing. While its parent companies are public, ULA is a private entity that provides launch services for the U.S. government and commercial customers. The Vulcan Centaur is now its primary launch vehicle, with the Atlas V completing its final commercial missions before retirement. Location: Centennial, Colorado. Formed in 2006.

Commercial Space Stations

The International Space Station is expected to be deorbited around 2031. NASA is betting that private companies can build and operate replacements at lower cost, and has awarded over $500 million to help develop them. If these stations succeed, they will provide the first permanent commercial platforms for research, manufacturing, and tourism in orbit, a critical stepping stone toward larger habitats and eventual settlement beyond low Earth orbit.

Current Companies (Updated Feb. 2026)

• Axiom Space. (Website) Building the world's first commercial space station. Axiom organizes private astronaut missions to the ISS and is manufacturing modules that will eventually detach to form an independent station, expected to be operational by 2028. Location: Houston, Texas. Established in 2016.

• Sierra Space. (Website) Spun off from Sierra Nevada Corp in 2021. Building the Dream Chaser spaceplane to resupply the ISS and co-developing the Orbital Reef commercial space station with Blue Origin. Location: Louisville, Colorado. Established in 2021.

• Vast. (Website) Planning to launch Haven-1, billed as the world's first standalone commercial space station, on a Falcon 9 rocket in early 2027. Vast is also a pioneer in artificial gravity research for future station designs. Founder: Jed McCaleb. Location: Long Beach, California. Established in 2021.

Lunar and Deep Space Services

A growing number of private companies are building landers, rovers, and transportation systems to deliver payloads to the Moon and beyond. NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program has been a significant catalyst, contracting with private firms to deliver science instruments to the lunar surface. These companies are building the delivery infrastructure that any future settlement will depend on.

Current Companies (Updated Feb. 2026)

• Astrobotic Technology. (Website) A lunar logistics company providing end-to-end delivery services for payloads to the Moon. Develops lunar landers (Peregrine, Griffin) and rovers. Acquired Masten Space Systems in 2022 and holds multiple NASA CLPS contracts. Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Established in 2007.

• Impulse Space. (Website) An in-space transportation company founded by Tom Mueller, the first employee at SpaceX and the principal engineer behind the Merlin and Draco rocket engines. Impulse builds orbital transfer vehicles (Mira, Helios) that move payloads between orbits and is developing capabilities for lunar and Mars missions. Valued at $1.8 billion after a $300 million Series C in 2025. Location: Redondo Beach, California. Established in 2021.

Other Notable Private Space Companies

Current Companies (Updated Feb. 2026)

• Copenhagen Suborbitals. (Website) The world's only amateur-based, crowd-funded crewed space program. This non-profit group aims to launch a human into space on a suborbital trajectory using a home-built rocket and capsule. Location: Copenhagen, Denmark. Established in 2008.

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The Missing Piece: Property Rights for Space Settlement

The companies listed above are solving the hardest engineering problems in space: affordable launch, orbital habitation, lunar delivery, and in-space logistics. But engineering alone has never produced a permanent settlement.

Every lasting settlement in human history has rested on an economic foundation. Settlers needed to own what they built and the land they built on. Property ownership created collateral, attracted follow-on investment, and gave ordinary people a financial reason to relocate permanently.

Today, SpaceX has demonstrated that a single company can fund pioneering transportation through cross-subsidy and sheer will. That answers a question many doubted could be answered. But it answers only the first question. A self-sustaining community of thousands requires a local economy: mortgages, land sales, capital for businesses that don't yet exist. That requires property rights. And no company, however well-funded, can grant them to itself.

The 1967 Outer Space Treaty prohibits nations from claiming sovereignty over celestial bodies, but it does not address private property rights. When SpaceX announces plans for a lunar city, or when Axiom detaches its modules from the ISS to form an independent station, who owns the surrounding territory? On what legal basis?

The Space Settlement Institute has proposed a solution: Lunar Land Claims Recognition. Under this framework, the U.S. would commit in advance to recognizing private land claims on the Moon (and Mars) for any entity that establishes a permanent settlement and transportation system open to all paying passengers. Recognized land deeds could then be sold to finance the infrastructure a real community needs, creating a durable economic cycle that outlasts any single founder's fortune.

The legal basis for this approach, rooted in civil law's "use and occupation" principle rather than sovereign land grants, does not violate the Outer Space Treaty. The details are laid out in the Space Settlement Prize Act, proposed legislation that Congress could pass today. For a full treatment of the legal arguments, see the Institute's peer-reviewed article in the Journal of Air Law and Commerce.

These companies are building the rockets and habitats. What comes next, turning outposts into civilizations, requires a legal and economic framework. That is the work of the Space Settlement Institute. Read the FAQs to learn more.

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Historical, Acquired, or No Longer Private

The following companies were formerly on this list but have been acquired, gone public, suspended operations, or otherwise changed status.

• Bigelow Aerospace: Suspended operations in 2020.

• Deep Space Industries: Acquired by Bradford Space in 2019.

• Firefly Aerospace: Went public in August 2025 (NASDAQ: FLY). See the Public Companies page.

• Intelsat: Went public, then private, filed for bankruptcy, and acquired by SES (Public) in 2024.

• Masten Space Systems: Acquired by Astrobotic Technology in 2022.

• Moon Express: Status is largely inactive as of 2025.

• Planetary Resources: Assets acquired by ConsenSys in 2018.

• Rocketplane, Ltd.: Liquidated in 2010.

• Scaled Composites: A subsidiary of Northrop Grumman (Public).

• The Spaceship Company: Fully integrated into Virgin Galactic.

• Virgin Galactic: Went public in 2019 (NYSE: SPCE). See the Public Companies page.

• Voyager Space: Went public as Voyager Technologies in June 2025 (NYSE: VOYG). See the Public Companies page.

• XCOR Aerospace: Filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2017.

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References and Further Reading

The following resources provide background on the legal, economic, and policy questions surrounding private space development and settlement.

1. Wasser, A. & Jobes, D. (2008). "Space Settlements, Property Rights, and International Law: Could a Lunar Settlement Claim the Real Estate It Needs to Survive?" Journal of Air Law and Commerce, Vol. 73, No. 1.
Note: The foundational peer-reviewed legal argument for private property rights on the Moon, published in a leading law journal. Demonstrates that land claims recognition based on "use and occupation" does not violate the Outer Space Treaty. Feature page

2. Jobes, D. (2005). "Lunar Land Claims Recognition: Designing the Ultimate Incentive for Space Infrastructure Development." Space Times, Magazine of the American Astronautical Society, Issue 3, Vol. 44, May/June 2005.
Note: Presents the land claims recognition concept as an economic incentive for private investment in space infrastructure. Argues that recognized lunar land deeds could generate the multi-billion dollar returns needed to justify the cost of settlement. PDF

3. Pershing, A. (2019). "Interpreting the Outer Space Treaty's Non-Appropriation Principle: Customary International Law from 1967 to Today." The Yale Journal of International Law, Vol. 44:1.
Note: An independent Yale analysis confirming that the Outer Space Treaty's non-appropriation clause was deliberately limited to nations, not private entities. Supports the legal basis for private property claims in space. PDF at Yale

4. Simberg, R. (2012). "Homesteading the Final Frontier." Competitive Enterprise Institute.
Note: A detailed policy paper examining how property rights frameworks could be applied to space, with particular attention to how U.S. legislation could work within existing international law. Feature page

5. Gorove, S. (1969). "Interpreting Article II of the Outer Space Treaty." Fordham Law Review, Vol. 37, pp. 349-354.
Note: A landmark early legal analysis written just two years after the Outer Space Treaty was signed. Gorove identified the critical ambiguity: the Treaty bars national appropriation but is silent on private ownership, an observation that remains central to the debate. PDF

6. The Space Settlement Institute. "Frequently Asked Questions about Lunar Land Claims Recognition."
Note: Thirty-seven questions and answers covering the legal, economic, and practical dimensions of space property rights, from the purpose of the legislation to its compatibility with international law. FAQs page

7. The Space Settlement Institute. "Space Settlement Prize Act."
Note: The proposed legislation itself, which would establish the legal mechanism for recognizing private land claims on the Moon and Mars once a qualifying settlement and transportation system are built. Full text

8. The Space Settlement Institute. "Research Library."
Note: A collection of over 30 articles, papers, and primary documents spanning from 1963 to 2019, covering the legal, political, and technical dimensions of space property rights and settlement economics. Research Library

Page last updated: February 2026

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