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 · 2026-07-28
Space traded broadly higher — IonQ led on the quantum rally spilling into optical terminals, launch and propulsion names firmed, and only the timing-silicon layer fell with the chip rout.
The basket's biggest gainer was IonQ, up 9.4% to $35.92 — a quantum-computing name that maps into space through the optical-terminals and quantum-networking chokepoint, and that rose with its whole sector after D-Wave's expanded AT&T deal and Nasdaq debut lifted quantum broadly. The space-native leadership sat just behind it: Karman rose 6.6% to $50.57 in propulsion-and-propellants and Rocket Lab 4.7% to $66.94 across launch and optical terminals, both into upcoming prints.
SiTime was the laggard, down 5.7% to $522.67, with no company news — the precision-timing MEMS maker (the atomic-clocks-and-PNT chokepoint) fell as a high-multiple silicon name caught in the trillion-dollar semiconductor selloff, not on anything space-specific; its next report is early August. Frequency Electronics, the other PNT-timing name, eased 2.5% to $70.64. The timing layer was the one part of the space stack that traded like a chip stock, because it is one.
Elsewhere the tape was green across chokepoints. Ground-segment and direct-to-device names rose — AST SpaceMobile up 3.7% to $58.29, Viasat 4.4% to $74.87, Gilat 2.6% to $11.01 — and earth observation firmed, Planet up 2.6% to $21.00 and BlackSky 2.3% to $22.07. Intuitive Machines added 3.0% to $13.31 in in-space infrastructure and 5N Plus 3.9% to $24.45 in space-solar-power. As in the drone basket, the largest nominal decliner — the Fundrise Innovation Fund (VCX, −31% to $38.35) — was a fund-premium unwind ahead of an accelerated August 13 lockup, not a repricing of the private launch names it holds.
The print run starts now. Iridium's PNT ASIC hits commercial availability around July 31; Firefly reports Q2 on August 4; BlackSky and Rocket Lab — the latter's first full quarter owning Mynaric — on August 6, with CACI and Microchip on August 7 and AST SpaceMobile on August 10. The hard mission catalysts follow: Northrop/DARPA's RSGS robotic-servicing vehicle launches on a Falcon 9 around August 15, SpaceX prints its first post-IPO quarter (~August 20) into a lockup-tranche release August 21, and SmallSat 2026 opens August 23 before SDA Tranche 2 launches begin September 1.