Aerospace is a broad industry, encompassing commercial aviation, space, defense, communication, and supply chain. Some branches are hotter than others. With only 29% of companies saying they’ve solidified their future supply chain readiness, and low-earth satellite spending expected to jump ~25% from 2025 to 2026, the field looks to a couple of bright superstars to fuel growth.
Which startups are on the radar?
We put our heads together and refined metrics on aerospace companies that have received lots of funding and are funded in the Silicon Valley ecosystem. This ranking sheds light on the hottest aerospace companies and allows for clear comparisons with similar funding and business models. It also applies the power laws to funding and company concentration in this space.
Top 25 Aerospace Startups Ranking Table
We analyzed data from Crunchbase and Keywords Everywhere to uncover the top US aerospace companies with top investors from Silicon Valley.
| Ranking | Company | GFD Tech100 Final Score* | GFD Funding Score* | GFD Website Score* | GFD Branded Keyword Score* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | JetZero | 83.6 | 81.4 | 67.6 | 63.1 |
| 2 | CesiumAstro | 81.9 | 82.5 | 63 | 59.2 |
| 3 | Northwood Space | 81.8 | 87.8 | 65.6 | 45.7 |
| 4 | Chaos | 81.5 | 75.7 | 68.4 | 66.3 |
| 5 | Hadrian | 81.2 | 79.3 | 64 | 62.3 |
| 6 | Anduril Industries | 81 | 71.3 | 77.2 | 64.4 |
| 7 | Cambium | 79.1 | 75.8 | 63.5 | 62.6 |
| 8 | Stoke Space | 78.4 | 73.1 | 70.3 | 58.6 |
| 9 | LeoLabs | 77.8 | 48 | 88.7 | 88.4 |
| 10 | SpaceX | 77.7 | 69.5 | 77 | 56.5 |
| 11 | Apex | 77.4 | 67.7 | 67 | 69.2 |
| 12 | Boom Supersonic | 77.1 | 76.3 | 69.5 | 48.3 |
| 13 | Ursa Major | 76.3 | 69.7 | 70.2 | 58.4 |
| 14 | Impulse Space | 75 | 65.3 | 69.3 | 63.1 |
| 15 | Infravision | 73.7 | 66.8 | 65.7 | 59.4 |
| 16 | Muon Space | 73 | 63.1 | 68.8 | 61 |
| 17 | Skyryse | 72.7 | 68.3 | 62.4 | 56.2 |
| 18 | Epirus | 72.3 | 62.5 | 68.3 | 60.5 |
| 19 | Varda | 72.1 | 64.4 | 65.3 | 58.8 |
| 20 | Reflect Orbital | 71.4 | 52.6 | 84.9 | 60.6 |
| 21 | True Anomaly | 71.2 | 63.7 | 64.8 | 57.6 |
| 22 | BRINC Drones | 69.9 | 57.9 | 65.2 | 64.4 |
| 23 | Starcloud | 69.7 | 48.2 | 71.3 | 76.8 |
| 24 | Firestorm | 69.4 | 57.3 | 66.9 | 62 |
| 25 | Arbor Energy | 69.2 | 63.6 | 59.3 | 56.4 |
*GFD’s Tech100 score is a final composite score of the Funding Score, Website Score, and the Branded Keyword score.
Key Takeaways:
- The three highest-ranking aerospace companies in February 2026 are JetZero, CesiumAstro, and Northwood Space, leading their industry based on their overall Tech100 score, a mix of funding strength, website performance, and branded search demand.
- SpaceX posted the largest month-over-month gain, climbing 2528 positions compared to last month, and ranking #174 this month, signaling accelerating momentum for the company.
- LeoLabs, Reflect Orbital, BRINC Drones, Starcloud, and Firestorm rank high among the top 25 aerospace brands despite lower than median funding scores — that means their website and brand are powering them up in the ranking.
- 0 of the top 25 aerospace companies also place in the top 25 of the Tech 100, which ranks companies across all industries.
Recent News:
- JetZero recently raised approximately $175 million in Series B financing, bringing its total funding and commitments to over $1 billion.
- CesiumAstro recently secured a record $200 million financing package from the Export-Import Bank of the United States and J.P. Morgan to fund the expansion of its U.S. manufacturing headquarters in Texas.
- Northwood Space recently closed a $100 million Series B funding round and secured a $49.8 million contract with the U.S. Space Force to modernize the Satellite Control Network.
Ranking the Top Startups by Funding Score
Funding is huge. This breakout highlights those firms that have raised the most venture capital rounds, ranked by a combination of date and volume. Note we are also including post-IPO raises as well. These are worth considering because they’re all part of the competitive system that all aerospace startups are competing in.
| Ranking | Company | Total Funding Amount | Most Recent Funding Amount | Last Funding Date | GFD Funding Score* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northwood Space | $136M | $100M | 1/27/2026 | 87.8 |
| 2 | CesiumAstro | $385M | $200M | 1/15/2026 | 82.5 |
| 3 | JetZero | $436M | $175M | 1/13/2026 | 81.4 |
| 4 | Grid Aero | $32M | $20M | 1/26/2026 | 79.5 |
| 5 | Hadrian | $608M | $131M | 1/9/2026 | 79.3 |
| 6 | Boom Supersonic | $732M | $300M | 12/9/2025 | 76.3 |
| 7 | Castelion | $470M | $350M | 12/5/2025 | 75.9 |
| 8 | Cambium | $127M | $100M | 1/5/2026 | 75.8 |
| 9 | Chaos | $1.00B | $510M | 11/13/2025 | 75.7 |
| 10 | K2 Space | $426M | $250M | 12/11/2025 | 75.4 |
*GFD’s Funding Score captures funding volume and velocity by combing total funding with recent funding amount and recency.
Key Takeaways:
- Ranking #1, Northwood Space leads with $136M in total funding and a GFD Funding Score of 87.8/100.
- Of the 72 aerospace companies analyzed, Chaos recorded the largest recent raise at $510M on November 13, 2025 (80 days ago).
- Cambium raised $100M on January 05, 2026, which represents 78.7% of total funding to date.
- Northwood Space moved 985 positions in our funding rankings since last month.
1. Northwood Space
GFD Funding Score*: 87.8
Total Funding Amount: $136M
Most Recent Funding Amount: $100M
Days Since Last Funding: 5
Out of our 72 ranked Aerospace companies, Northwood Space ranks #1 in funding. The company’s total funding is $136M and the last time they were funded was on January 27, 2026 for $100M. The last funding type was Series B. The total amount of lead investors that Northwood Space has is 5 and their top investors are: Andreessen Horowitz, BoxGroup, StepStone Group, Long Journey Ventures, Washington Harbour Partners.
2. CesiumAstro
GFD Funding Score*: 82.5
Total Funding Amount: $385M
Most Recent Funding Amount: $200M
Days Since Last Funding: 17
Out of our 72 ranked Aerospace companies, CesiumAstro ranks #2 in funding. The company’s total funding is $385M and the last time they were funded was on January 15, 2026 for $200M. The last funding type was Debt Financing. The total amount of lead investors that CesiumAstro has is 4 and their top investors are: Alumni Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, JP Morgan, Franklin Templeton, L3Harris Technologies.
3. JetZero
GFD Funding Score*: 81.4
Total Funding Amount: $436M
Most Recent Funding Amount: $175M
Days Since Last Funding: 19
Out of our 72 ranked Aerospace companies, JetZero ranks #3 in funding. The company’s total funding is $436M and the last time they were funded was on January 13, 2026 for $175M. The last funding type was Series B. The total amount of lead investors that JetZero has is 4 and their top investors are: B Capital, Northrop Grumman, Trucks Venture Capital, United Airlines, RTX Ventures.
GFD Website Score Breakdown
Website traffic and traffic growth is important but doesn’t always line up perfectly with other attributes and events like funding. We were curious as to which of these companies saw the strongest website traffic and growth. The website score we captures the volume of recent website visits and combines it with the companies’ website growth trends.
| Ranking | Company | Last Month Total Visits | Average Visits (6 Months) | Monthly Visit Growth | GFD Website Score* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LeoLabs | 503K | 151K | 611.47% | 88.7 |
| 2 | Reflect Orbital | 558K | 179K | 269.07% | 84.9 |
| 3 | Anduril Industries | 509K | 431K | -5.84% | 77.2 |
| 4 | SpaceX | 1.3M | 1.9M | -43.66% | 77 |
| 5 | Starcloud | 85K | 21K | 221.25% | 71.3 |
| 6 | Air Space Intelligence | 13K | 7K | 54.38% | 70.4 |
| 7 | Stoke Space | 26K | 34K | -5.27% | 70.3 |
| 8 | Ursa Major | 15K | 13K | 26.36% | 70.2 |
| 9 | Astranis | 17K | 14K | 19.23% | 70.1 |
| 10 | Boom Supersonic | 59K | 79K | -39.52% | 69.5 |
*GFD’s Website Score captures the volume of recent website visits and combines it with the company’s website growth trends.
Key Takeaways:
- SpaceX ranks #4, and earns the most average monthly website traffic over the last six months with 1.9M visits per month.
- The aerospace industry leaders with the most average monthly website traffic volume over the last six months are SpaceX (1.9M) and Anduril Industries (431K).
- LeoLabs (+611.5%) and Reflect Orbital (+269.1%) have seen their website traffic increase the most month over month.
- LeoLabs moved 1769 positions in our funding rankings since last month.
1. LeoLabs
GFD Website Score*: 88.7
Last Month’s Total Visits: 503K
Monthly Average Visits Over 6 Months: 151K
Monthly Visit Growth: 611.5%
Out of our 72 ranked Aerospace companies, LeoLabs ranks #1 in website traffic. Last month, the website saw 503K total visits and increased by 611.5% from the month before that. The average visits over the past 6 months were 151K.
2. Reflect Orbital
GFD Website Score*: 84.9
Last Month’s Total Visits: 558K
Monthly Average Visits Over 6 Months: 179K
Monthly Visit Growth: 269.1%
Out of our 72 ranked Aerospace companies, Reflect Orbital ranks #2 in website traffic. Last month, the website saw 558K total visits and increased by 269.1% from the month before that. The average visits over the past 6 months were 179K.
3. Anduril Industries
GFD Website Score*: 77.2
Last Month’s Total Visits: 509K
Monthly Average Visits Over 6 Months: 431K
Monthly Visit Growth: -5.8%
Out of our 72 ranked Aerospace companies, Anduril Industries ranks #3 in website traffic. Last month, the website saw 509K total visits and decreased by -5.8% from the month before that. The average visits over the past 6 months were 431K.
Aerospace Startups with Strongest Branded Search Growth
A great way to measure brand growth is by analyzing keyword growth for the company across a period of time. We sourced Google Search keyword data for companies on the list and ranked by a score that accounted for total keyword search as well as search volume change over the last year.
| Ranking | Company | Total Keyword Search Volume | Average Monthly Search Volume Change (1 Year) | 1 Year Trend Positive or Negative? | GFD Company Keyword Ranking* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LeoLabs | 22K | 7K | + | 88.4 |
| 2 | Starcloud | 8K | 2K | + | 76.8 |
| 3 | Apex | 1.2M | 9K | + | 69.2 |
| 4 | Chaos | 673K | -3K | – | 66.3 |
| 5 | BRINC Drones | 4K | 422 | + | 64.4 |
| 5 | Anduril Industries | 74K | 2K | + | 64.4 |
| 7 | Albedo | 246K | -2K | – | 63.3 |
| 8 | Impulse Space | 10K | 640 | + | 63.1 |
| 8 | JetZero | 33K | 1K | + | 63.1 |
| 10 | Cambium | 50K | 1K | + | 62.6 |
*GFD’s Branded Keyword Ranking is a metric that combines monthly branded keyword search volume with a 1-year linear trend that is observed weekly and adjusted by search volume.
Key Takeaways:
- LeoLabs ranks #1 for branded search demand with 22K total monthly branded keyword searches and a Keyword Ranking Score of 88.4.
- Cambium is the aerospace company whose branded search is increasing the fastest relative to their size. Search demand is rising for them this year at a pace equivalent to adding 29.7% of today’s volume each month.
- Apex ranks #3 and leads in total branded keyword demand with 1.2M searches this month.
- Impulse Space moved 883 positions in our rankings since last month.
1. LeoLabs
GFD Branded Keyword Score*: 88.4
Total Keyword Search Volume: 22K
Average Weekly Search Volume Change: 7K
Out of our 72 ranked Aerospace companies, LeoLabs ranks #1 in branded keyword searches. Last month, their total branded keyword search volume was 22K. Over the course of the last year, the average monthly change for their branded keyword search volume was 7K, indicating an increase in their 1-year trend.
2. Starcloud
GFD Branded Keyword Score*: 76.8
Total Keyword Search Volume: 8K
Average Weekly Search Volume Change: 2K
Out of our 72 ranked Aerospace companies, Starcloud ranks #2 in branded keyword searches. Last month, their total branded keyword search volume was 8K. Over the course of the last year, the average monthly change for their branded keyword search volume was 2K, indicating an increase in their 1-year trend.
3. Apex
GFD Branded Keyword Score*: 69.2
Total Keyword Search Volume: 1.2M
Average Weekly Search Volume Change: 9K
Out of our 72 ranked Aerospace companies, Apex ranks #3 in branded keyword searches. Last month, their total branded keyword search volume was 1.2M. Over the course of the last year, the average monthly change for their branded keyword search volume was 9K, indicating an increase in their 1-year trend.
Methodology and Sources
- Methodology: We collected data for 10k+ companies from Crunchbase and aggregated it into a set of scores through the use of quantitative transformations and expertly curated weighted averages.
- Sources: Crunchbase and Google Trends
Udpate Log
- February 1st, 2026: Monthly update.
- January 2nd, 2026: Monthly update.
- December 1st, 2025: Monthly update.
- November 1st, 2025: Monthly update.
