Tuesday, Sep 15, 2026 Updated Sep 15, 01:30 UTC

NewSpace RFP

We track the space industry: contracts, hiring, launches, patents, funding, suppliers and company activity.

SupportNewSpace RFP

filings read under mixed scope

7,748

4,101 granted, 3,647 pending, across 81 companies that filed

read under mixed scope: a space-first company's whole portfolio, a diversified group's spacecraft-class filings only, so the total counts records held rather than portfolios compared, a filing dates the work; a grant is the same invention two or three years older

What companies sought to protect, which is different from what they build or sell today. Filings are matched to company records by exact applicant name, a reviewed alias, or a name prefix of at least two words, so a group that files solely through sub-brands is under-counted rather than credited by guesswork. The classification shown is the one the patent office recorded.

Source: USPTO Patent File Wrapper. The office publishes applicant names but no assignee identifier, so this is the one join here still made on a name

281 5622017: 674 2017 2018: 596 2018 2019: 616 2019 2020: 731 2020 2021: 822 2021 2022: 842 2022 2023: 785 2023 2024: 723 2024 2025: 443 2025 2026: 74 2026

Spacecraft-class filings by company

CPC B64G, spacecraft and their equipment, read in full for every company. This is the comparison the record supports: ranking on filings held would put a group we read in one class beside a company we read entirely, which is two different measurements in one chart.

Boeing 342 Airbus Defence and Space 135 Blue Origin 123 Northrop Grumman 69 Thales 69 Lockheed Martin 65 Maxar Space Systems 48 Arianespace 40 Honeywell Aerospace 36 United Launch Alliance 34 Mitsubishi Heavy… 26 L3Harris / Aerojet… 23 BAE Systems 18 Stoke Space 16
CompanySpacecraft classFilings heldGrantedMost recent
Boeing 342 342311 Apr 13, 2026
Airbus Defence and Space 135 767581 Jan 27, 2026
Blue Origin 123 354148 Apr 22, 2026
Northrop Grumman 69 6957 Aug 6, 2025
Thales 69 6960 Dec 16, 2025
Lockheed Martin 65 6559 Nov 15, 2024
Maxar Space Systems 48 8351 Sep 15, 2025
Arianespace 40 171109 Dec 1, 2025
Honeywell Aerospace 36 3628 Oct 4, 2025
United Launch Alliance 34 5249 Jul 16, 2024
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries 26 2619 May 5, 2025
L3Harris / Aerojet Rocketdyne 23 387213 Feb 11, 2026
BAE Systems 18 1815 Mar 4, 2024
Stoke Space 16 4213 Jan 15, 2026
Planet Labs 14 6828 Jan 23, 2026
AST SpaceMobile 13 12858 Mar 24, 2026
Thales Alenia Space 13 3731 Jan 12, 2026
Safran 13 1311 Nov 13, 2023
SpaceX 12 322149 Mar 13, 2026
Viasat 11 117 Sep 24, 2025
Sierra Space 8 4718 Feb 5, 2025
Spire Global 8 4230 Jan 31, 2022
Rocket Lab 8 2414 Aug 12, 2022
Blue Canyon Technologies 6 95 Jan 10, 2025
Relativity Space 5 11823 Mar 6, 2026
NorthStar Earth & Space 5 86 Jun 2, 2025
EchoStar 4 1286597 Apr 29, 2026
Firefly Aerospace 4 77 Jun 1, 2022
ispace 4 62 Jan 29, 2026
Moog 3 475142 Feb 12, 2026
LeoLabs 3 3010 Feb 13, 2025
Slingshot Aerospace 3 226 Jul 10, 2025
Leonardo 2 245182 Mar 3, 2026
Teledyne Technologies 2 188106 Aug 7, 2025
Teledyne Space 2 167100 Aug 7, 2025
Sierra Nevada Corporation 2 10045 Mar 8, 2023
Momentus 2 122 Nov 17, 2021
Voyager Space 2 81 Aug 7, 2025
EnduroSat 2 33 Feb 27, 2023
Rolls-Royce 2 22 Oct 16, 2024
AeroVironment 1 540285 May 8, 2026
Kratos Defense 1 9127 Mar 9, 2026
Avio 1 108 Apr 9, 2020
Agile Space Industries 1 74 Mar 2, 2026
Sky Perfect JSAT 1 62 Dec 2, 2025
Redwire Space 1 53 Feb 24, 2025
Benchmark Space Systems 1 41 Apr 18, 2023
Voyager Technologies 1 20 Aug 1, 2025
OHB SE 1 21 Feb 27, 2024
Isar Aerospace 1 11 Apr 4, 2024
York Space Systems 1 11 Mar 3, 2016
Velo3D 0 37347 Dec 2, 2024
Ansys (AGI / STK) 0 313203 May 23, 2025
General Dynamics 0 23499 Nov 3, 2025
L3Harris Technologies 0 192144 Feb 11, 2026
Leidos 0 18694 Sep 24, 2025
Curtiss-Wright 0 6417 Mar 3, 2025
Iridium Communications 0 5643 Mar 31, 2025
Frontgrade Technologies 0 3024 Dec 27, 2023
CesiumAstro 0 267 Mar 13, 2026
Globalstar 0 148 May 16, 2023
Astranis 0 133 Oct 27, 2025
Ursa Major 0 121 Jan 9, 2026
ATLAS Space Operations 0 128 Feb 7, 2024
Kayhan Space 0 92 Mar 16, 2026
GHGSat 0 74 Aug 7, 2025
MDA Space 0 60 Dec 16, 2025
Axiom Space 0 40 Feb 4, 2026
Vast 0 40 Oct 7, 2025
Redwire 0 40 Dec 2, 2021
Virgin Galactic 0 42 Jun 28, 2024
Impulse Space 0 30 Jun 15, 2023
Infostellar 0 22 Jan 6, 2022
Kepler Communications 0 21 Sep 7, 2016
Magellan Aerospace 0 20 Jan 30, 2014
Canadensys Aerospace 0 22 Jul 11, 2023
GomSpace 0 11 Jan 11, 2018
RBC Signals 0 10 Dec 9, 2025
Karman Holdings 0 11 Jun 8, 2020
HEICO 0 10 Mar 23, 2010
Rheinmetall 0 11 Nov 10, 2022

Business deskPatent desk: filing rate, momentum and classification