Welcome to

NewSpace Index

Concise original overview of commercial satellite constellations,
small satellite rocket launchers and NewSpace funding options.
Sister websites www.nanosats.eu and www.factoriesinspace.com

Constellations Selection Approach

Satellite constellation - Number of similar satellites, of a similar type and function, designed to be in similar, complementary, orbits for a shared purpose, under shared control. Sometimes defined as a set of satellites working together in order to provide a service or a group of satellites with a common purpose. Different from satellite programs and fleets.

3 or more spacecraft - Minimum required for a continuous coverage in geostationary or Molniya orbits. Literature review revealed minimum satellite counts of 2 and official definition has not been found but 3 appropriately filters out many satellite pairs.

Commercial focus - Primarily owned, financed and managed by commercial entities for the purpose of providing a commercial service. Excluding government, military, academic, scientific and non-profit constellations. Likely to be expanded in the future, because all constellations will have an impact to the space economy, including launch and manufacturing services.

Announced or launched after 2002 - Filtering out the first-generation constellations for Iridium, Globalstar and Orbcomm as of now, in addition to other projects from the 1990s.

Constellations Form Factors Classification

PocketQubes (Femtosatellites) - Sizes from 1p to 3p, where 1p is ≈ 5 cm × 5 cm × 5 cm.

CubeSats (Nanosatellites) - Satellites following the CubeSat Design Specification from 0.25U to 16U, where 1U is 10 cm × 10 cm × 11.35 cm.

Hosted - Constellations hosting payloads on multi-use satellites or constellations, where resources are shared and mass has lower correlation to payload performance and specifications.

Microsats - 10 kg to 100 kg, except larger CubeSats which can be up to 25 kg, because those masses are rarely shared publicly.

Smallsats - 100 kg to 500 kg. Small satellites term is often used broadly for any satellite below 500 kg.

Satellites - 500 kg and above.

Constellations Status Description

Categories to indicate the current status of satellite constellations by consolidating various publicly accessible information. In some cases, an educated guess has been made:

Launched - Constellation fully launched with no replenishments foreseen due to long expected lifetime and already existing orbital spares.

Launched and replenishing - Most of the planned satellites have been launched. New iterations are being sent to orbit every 1-3 years as satellites retire or deorbit.

Launches ongoing - Constellation deployment of identical or similar satellites actively in progress or ramping up. Starlink and OneWeb are best examples.

Prototype(s) launched - One or more first satellites or hosted payloads launched, which serve as prototypes or pathfinders.

Prototype development - First payload or spacecraft is being actively worked on. Company seems to be growing and often has announced one or more rounds of funding.

Early stage / Concept - A few announcements, presentations and pitches for an idea, but likely starting development, looking for funding and gaining traction with a very small team.

Dormant / Unknown - Early signs towards to the development has slowed down or stopped, but in rare cases can be explained with stealth mode or temporary setbacks.

Cancelled - Company is bankrupt, website and social media channels have been quiet for more than 1-2 years, lack of funding, team disbanded and/or the idea never entered implementation.

Retired - Constellation, which has been removed from active service, but satellites could still be in orbit and even operational.