A public research surface · updated continuously
The orbital economy will be won by whoever owns the chokepoints.
Rad-hard silicon, space-grade solar, propellant, optical terminals, atomic clocks, ground stations. Space Bottlenecks maps the physical supply chain behind every constellation — and the listed companies that own each choke. Own the strait, not the tanker.
48 names tracked · 10 chokepoints · free, no login
The chokepoints
I
Rad-hard & space-grade silicon
Space electronics must survive radiation no commercial fab designs for; the qualified supplier list is short and defense-gated.
FRONTGRADE · BAESY · MCHP · TXN · TDY · STM · MRCY
II
Space-grade solar & power
Multi-junction space solar cells come from two or three qualified suppliers; constellation demand outstrips germanium-wafer capacity.
RKLB · FPLSF · UMICY · RDW · BA · SPCX
III
Propulsion & propellants
Engines and storable propellants concentrate in a few qualified lines; hydrazine alternatives and Hall-effect thrusters have single-digit benches.
RKLB · KRMN · LHX · MOG.A · RDW · SPCX
IV
Laser comms & optical terminals
Inter-satellite laser links are becoming mandatory for LEO constellations; qualified terminal suppliers are scarce.
CACI · RKLB · IONQ · VSAT · LHX · TSAT · SPCX
V
Atomic clocks & space PNT
Every GNSS and alt-PNT constellation routes through space-qualified atomic clocks from a tiny supplier set.
FEIM · MCHP · IRDM · SITM · EXCELITAS · XONASPACE
VI
Ground segment & direct-to-device
Constellations are worthless without gateways, phased arrays and spectrum; the ground layer is consolidating fast.
GILT · ASTS · VSAT · GSAT · SGBAF · CMTL
VII
Launch & reusability
The visible layer everyone prices: launch capacity is SpaceX plus a thin bench of listed challengers with dated manifests.
SPCX · RKLB · FLY · NOC · LHX · DXYZ · XOVR · VCX
VIII
In-space infrastructure & servicing
Docking, refueling, debris capture and orbital transfer are pre-revenue but program-funded; the qualified bench is tiny.
NOC · MDA · ASRHF · RDW · LUNR · ORBITFAB
IX
Earth observation & space data
Sensing constellations with government anchor contracts own a data chokepoint that reprices on every NRO/NGA award.
PL · BKSY · SATL · SPIR · VANTOR
X
Private giants & exposure vehicles
SpaceX just went public — but Blue Origin, Anduril-space, Sierra, Axiom and K2 still anchor private cap tables; map the listed paths in.
SPCX · DXYZ · XOVR · VCX · BLUEORIGIN · AXIOMSPACE · K2SPACE · SIERRASPACE
Latest brief · 2026-10-27
A broad satellite-communications rally lifted the space basket, led by Viasat, while imaging name Satellogic slipped into its first AI-first constellation launch this week.
The leader was Viasat (VSAT), up 8.0% to $66.39 on the ground-segment and in-space-infrastructure rungs — the satellite-communications strait spanning its GEO broadband fleet and L-band narrowband franchise. No single company catalyst was confirmed for the session; the move was the standout in a broad satcom rally that lifted the connectivity cohort as a group, which is the more reliable read. Viasat has been one of the vertical's strongest performers over the past year on the strength of its network expansion and government connectivity work, and the session extended that structural bid on the layer that gates resilient, beyond-line-of-sight communications.
The laggard was Satellogic (SATL), down 3.1% to $3.71 on the earth-observation chokepoint — the imaging-and-GEOINT rung. The slip comes directly ahead of a hard catalyst: Satellogic's first AI-first constellation satellite is slated to launch October 31, and the pullback reads as pre-event de-risking in a thin name rather than any deterioration in the imaging thesis. That launch is the near-term test of whether the company's next-generation architecture performs as advertised.
The breadth was the story. Ground-segment and space-electronics names led alongside Viasat — Comtech (CMTL) +6.5% to $1.32, Mercury Systems (MRCY) +6.5% to $79.71 on rad-hard silicon, Telesat (TSAT) +5.0% to $44.69 on the in-space-infrastructure rung, and Frequency Electronics (FEIM) +4.8% to $67.28 on the atomic-clocks-PNT strait. Launch and prime names were firmer too — Rocket Lab (RKLB) +2.3% to $53.82, Northrop Grumman (NOC) +2.5% to $565.41 and Planet Labs (PL) +2.6% to $13.76. The soft spots were minor: AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) −0.9% to $39.45 and Intuitive Machines (LUNR) −0.4% to $10.48.
The forward calendar opens with Satellogic's October 31 launch, then widens. China's suspension of its germanium and gallium export ban to the US expires November 27 — a direct read on the rad-hard-silicon and solar-cell inputs — and the SDA Tranche 3 Tracking Layer production milestones and next optical-terminal demand wave land around December 1. SpaceX's 180-day IPO lock-up fully expires December 9, and the NRO is expected to issue additional Strategic Commercial Enhancements awards by year-end on the earth-observation rung.