Affordability and Productivity Drive Historic Satellite Industry Growth: Satellite Industry Association Releases the 29th Annual State of the Satellite Industry Report

Investment in satellite technology and innovation delivers improvement in affordability and utility, enabling new capabilities and creating new markets

2025 Industry Highlights include:

In 2025, a historic high 296 launches deployed a record number of 4,434 satellites into Earth orbit, a 65 percent increase over 2024
During the year, the global space economy expanded by 3 percent to $429 billion with commercial satellite industry revenue growing by 4 percent and accounting for 71 percent of the world’s space business
U.S. firms manufactured 83% of commercially procured satellites launched in 2025 and earned 47% of manufacturing revenues
Global satellite broadband subscribers increased by 62 percent over 2024 and revenue increased by 17 percent
Remote sensing revenue grew by 4 percent over the previous year as the total number of remote sensing satellites on-orbit increased by 47 percent since 2016
Continued annual growth in satellite ground network and GNSS equipment revenues of 8% and 6% respectively
Continued strong market interest by satellite operators seeking to grow emerging Direct-to-Device (D2D) services with operators acquiring spectrum and planning network upgrades

WASHINGTON, May 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Satellite Industry Association (SIA) today announced the release of its 29^th annual State of the Satellite Industry Report (SSIR), a global summary of the commercial satellite industry. For nearly three decades, SIA has published the leading analysis of the satellite industry’s economic performance. Produced by BryceTech, the 2026 SSIR derives from proprietary surveys of satellite companies, in-depth public information, and independent analysis, combined to assess the performance of sectors including satellite services, manufacturing, ground equipment, plus space sustainability and launch services.

During 2025, the industry continued to grow at an unprecedented rate as a record number of 296 launches deployed 4,434 satellites into Earth orbit. A total of 14,266 operational satellites were circling the globe at the end of the year.

Key Revenue and Industry Segment Takeaways from the New Report:

During 2025, the overall global space economy grew by 3 percent, generating revenue of $429 billion. The commercial satellite industry continued to be dominant, increasing to $303 billion and accounting for 71 percent of the world’s space business.
Launch Services – A total of 325 launches (including 296 commercially procured for satellites) were conducted in 2025 and worldwide commercial launch revenues increased to $12.4 billion, an increase of 33 percent compared with 2024.
Satellite Manufacturing – 4,434 commercially manufactured satellites were launched during the year and satellite manufacturing revenues marginally grew to $20.4 billion in 2025. During the year, U.S. firms manufactured 83 percent of the commercially procured satellites.
Satellite Services – Global satellite broadband subscriber growth increased by 62 percent to over 10 million in 2025 and revenue increased by 16 percent. Combined with a 4 percent increase in remote sensing revenues, satellite services revenue totaled $105.0 billion during 2025.
Satellite Ground Segment – Continued annual growth in satellite ground network and global navigation satellite services (GNSS) equipment revenues of 8% and 6% respectively helped generate a total of $165.2 billion in 2025, an increase of 6 percent over the previous year.
Space Sustainability Activities - Commercial satellite sustainability activities generated significant revenue during the year, and this accounted for approximately $500 million in revenue during 2025, an estimated increase of nearly 43 percent.

“In 2025, thanks to continued innovation and investment, the commercial satellite industry further expanded at a historic rate,” said Tom Stroup, president of the Satellite Industry Association. “Not only is the number of satellites increasing, space-based assets are more productive than ever before and can do more at a lower cost to manufacture and deploy. Increased utility and new capabilities will continue to benefit the hundreds of millions of Americans and billions of global customers that already rely on satellites every day.”

Mr. Stroup added, “America’s industry leadership position continued in 2025 as U.S. firms manufactured 83% of commercially procured satellites launched in 2025 while American launch companies captured 63% of the launches conducted throughout the year and 59 percent of commercially-procured launch revenue. At the end of 2025, American companies continued to wholly or partially operate more than 70 percent of the total number of satellites circling the globe. SIA is proud to continue to represent and advocate on behalf of the domestic satellite industry and we look forward to continuing to work with U.S lawmakers and regulators to help ensure continued industry innovation, investment and America’s continued domination of the global space economy.”

To view the executive summary slide of this year’s SIA State of the Satellite Industry Report, please click HERE. All SIA members receive a complimentary copy of the annual report. For all others who wish to purchase a copy of the complete report or for more information, please visit the SSIR website page HERE or contact SIA via email at info@sia.org.

About The Satellite Industry Association
SIA is a U.S.-based trade association providing representation of the leading satellite operators, service providers, manufacturers, launch services providers, and ground equipment suppliers. For more than two decades, SIA has advocated on behalf of the U.S. satellite industry on policy, regulatory, and legislative issues affecting the satellite business. For more information, visit www.sia.org.

SIA Executive Members include: Amazon; AST Space Mobile; Comtech; DIRECTV; EchoStar Corporation; Eutelsat Group; HawkEye 360; Iridium Communications Inc.; Kratos Defense & Security Solutions; Lockheed Martin Corporation; Planet Labs PBC; SES Americom, Inc.; Spire Global Inc.; and Viasat Inc. SIA Associate Members include: The Aerospace Corporation; Artel, LLC; Astranis Space Technologies Corp.; The Boeing Company; ExoAnalytic Solutions; iDirect Government, LLC; Integrasys LLC; Ovzon; Panasonic Avionics Corporation; Satcom Direct Government; Skyloom and Telesat. SIA Affiliate Members include: AvL Technologies; COMSAT; Cooley LLP; DLA Piper; Globalstar; Greenberg Traurig LLP; Hogan Lovells; Intrado Life & Safety, Inc.; Jenner & Block; Keysight Technologies, Inc.; Media Broadcast Satellite; Peraton; Sheppard Mullin; Wiley and XTAR, LLC.

SIA Media Contact: Dean Hirasawa
Endeavour Communications
dhirasawa@sia.org

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