In this piece, we will take a look at the 15 biggest rocket companies in the world. For more rocket companies, head on over to 5 Biggest Rocket Companies in the World.
The rocket industry is perhaps one of the most popular industries these days. A larger involvement of the private sector in the industry coupled with the fact that technological advancements have made a rapid succession of launches possible has led to rockets launching every week from at least one part of the world.
At the same time, humans have been making and launching rockets as soon as they could. The earliest derivative of a rocket was a military missile developed by the Germans during the second world war. The first rockets were developed since they offered the aggressor the ability to launch payloads at supersonic speeds - which rendered any air defense system against them useless. After the war ended and the U.S. and the Soviet Union emerged as the world's two superpowers, an era of tough competition between them saw a myriad of developments in just a short time period. The first major achievement came in 1957 when the world's first satellite was placed into orbit by the Soviets, with a dog named Laika being launched soon after that.
The Americans followed with their own satellite launch in 1958, but the Soviets responded by placing the first human in space in 1961. Since then, human spaceflight has come a long way, with America taking the final crown of having landed astronauts on the Moon, and Russia and the U.S. having jointly developed the International Space Station ((ISS) - an orbiting space laboratory in low Earth orbit (LEO).
Missions to the ISS also form the bulk of today's crewed space launches. And the space station is also where the private sector made its splashy entry into the launch vehicle market. This is due to NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP) and Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) programs, which outsourced the critical capability of delivering astronauts and goods to the space station to the private sector. Prior to the CRS and CCP, missions to the ISS and space, in general, took place on the Space Shuttle, and between the years spent after the Shuttle's retirement and the first launches of the private sector, these capabilities were present only in Russia in form of the Soyuz rocket and spacecraft - which are some of the oldest vehicles in the world.
Yet, despite commonly being thought to be, the space launch services market isn't really that big in terms of dollar value. This is because the demand for these products is limited mostly to governments and the satellite industry. As an illustration, a research report from Markets and Markets believes that the space launch services market was worth $16.9 billion last year and that it will grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.1% to sit at an estimated $29.6 billion by 2027 end. As we also mentioned above, the research firm believes that out of the $29.6 billion in revenue for the space launch services market in 2027, the military and government segment will account for nearly all of the spending, which is expected to sit at $24 billion by then.
Within the rocket launch industry, the use of reusable rockets has picked up the pace courtesy of SpaceX's Falcon 9 lineup. However, despite SpaceX's rapid launch cadence, through which it is aiming to launch an unprecedented 100 missions this year, the reusable rocket segment is a small part of the broader industry. At least that's what research from Fortune Business Insights would have you believe, which estimates that this particular subsegment was worth $1.61 billion last year and will grow at a CAGR of 15.77% from its estimated value of $1.9 billion to be worth $5.4 billion by 2030. Within the market, payload destined for low Earth orbit (LEO) is expected to account for the largest chunk of the market, particularly due to SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet constellation which plans to launch tens of thousands of satellites to add to the world's largest satellite constellation.
As for the trends in the launch market as a whole, Astra Space, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTR)'s chief executive officer Mr. Chris Kemp shared during the firm's fourth quarter of 2022 earnings call:
Since our inception, we have taken a long-term view on the growth of the commercial space industry. In 2022, we saw the number of satellites launched increase by 31%, global launch rate increase 27%, and the overall space economy grow by 8% to $464 billion. Each of those benchmarks validates the trajectory of the industry that we anticipated and which have guided our strategy, product roadmaps and investments. Our strategy to become the leading provider of launch services in space products required long-term investments and our rocket and space product production lines in 2022. And in 2022 and early 2023, in spite of the challenges, we stayed the course and completed the buildout of our new Rocket 4 and spacecraft engine production lines and invested heavily in the people and equipment needed to increase the quality and reliability of our products and services.
With these details in mind, let's take a look at the biggest rocket companies in the world, out of which the top players are Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX), United Launch Alliance (ULA), and Arianespace SA.
15 Biggest Rocket Companies in the World
Pixabay/Public Domain
Our Methodology
To compile our list of the biggest rocket companies, we first made a list of all companies with sounding/suborbital, and orbital rockets as well as land and submarine launched intercontinental ballistic missiles. Then, the number of times each firm has completed a launch was listed. The firms were then ranked according to launches per rocket category - so while a company's sounding rockets might have launched more than another's LEO rockets, it was ranked lower simply because launching to LEO is more technologically complex. Additionally, firms that make the ICBMs are also included. Finally, one rocket engine company is also listed since its engines are the backbone of several large rockets. The final list of the biggest rocket companies in the world is as follows.
While Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AJRD) isn't a rocket company, its engines have powered the Space Shuttle, and currently power NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Delta IV Heavy - the largest American rocket in terms of operational payload. The firm is headquartered in El Segundo, California, and its RS-68A engine is America's largest engine in terms of thrust with a power punch of a whopping 660,000 pounds.
By the end of last year's fourth quarter, 39 of the 943 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey's database had bought Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AJRD)'s shares. The fi2rm's largest investor in our database is Warren Lichtenstein's Steel Partners which owns 3.5 million shares that are worth $201 million.
Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX), United Launch Alliance (ULA), Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AJRD), and Arianespace SA are some of the biggest rocket companies in the world.
Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT)'s space division develops the deadly Trident II submarine launched ballistic missiles. These are nuclear capable missiles that travel at Mach 24 and have an estimated range of 12,000 kilometers.
53 of the 943 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey's Q4 2022 survey had bought Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT)'s shares. The firm's largest investor is Rajiv Jain's GQG Partners with a $559 million stake.
Raytheon Technologies Corporation (NYSE:RTX) is an American firm that makes a wide variety of missiles such as cruise, air to surface, anti tank, surface to air, and naval surface to air missiles.
Insider Monkey's December quarter of 2022 survey revealed that 51 had invested in the company. Raytheon Technologies Corporation (NYSE:RTX)'s largest investor in our database is Ken Fisher's Fisher Asset Management with a $889 million stake.
12. SpaceForest
Number of Launches: 8
SpaceForcest is a Polish rocket company that has successfully flown its Bigos suborbital sounding rocket at least eight times.
11. UP Aerospace, Inc.
Number of Launches: 17
UP Aerospace, Inc. is an American firm headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Its operational rocket is the SpaceLoft XL launch vehicle - a suborbital sounding rocket. The SpaceLoft XL is one of the more successful sounding rockets, having completed 12 of 14 flights. As a whole UP Aerospace, Inc. has conducted 17 successful launches.
10. Blue Origin LLC
Number of Launches: 17
Blue Origin LLC is an American aerospace company headquartered in Kent, Washington. It was set up by the now retail billionaire Jeff Bezos in 2000, and has conducted 21 successful flights of the New Shepard rocket. These include crewed flights as well, including Mr. Bezos who flew on the rocket in 2021.
9. Firefly Aerospace
Number of Launches: 1
Firefly Aerospace is an American rocket company headquartered in Cedar Park, Texas. It operates the Firefly Alpha two stage orbital rocket, which made a successful flight in October 2022. Firefly has also been contracted to provide a first stage rocket booster to Northrop Grumman.
Astra Space, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTR) is an American firm based in Alameda, California. It develops rockets that have launched successfully to sun synchronous and low Earth orbits.
Seven of the 943 hedge funds polled by Insider Monkey had bought Astra Space, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTR)'s shares during Q4 2022.
The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) is the world's largest aerospace firm, and its Space Launch System (SLS) core stage is the centerpiece of the world's largest rocket that flew as part of a NASA Moon mission last year. However, Boeing's true rocketry comes in the form of the Minuteman III ICBM, which is America's only land based nuclear missile that can travel a whopping 10,000 kilometers at Mach 23.
53 of the 943 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey's Q4 2022 database had bought The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA)'s shares. Out of these, the largest is Israel Englander's Millennium Management with a $382 million stake.
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB) is an American rocket firm headquartered in Long Beach, California. It is one of the most successful small rocket companies in the world since its Electron rocket has conducted 32 successful missions to date. The Electron is also a partly reusable small lift rocket since Rocket Lab recovers the first stage from the ocean after some launches.
Insider Monkey took a look at 943 hedge fund portfolios for their December quarter of 2022 investments and found out that 12 had held a stake in Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB).
Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX), United Launch Alliance (ULA), and Arianespace SA, Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB) is one of the world's biggest rocket companies.
