Welcome to the Great American Satellite Age

Engineers at Basalt Space, including CEO Max Bhatti, worked 22 hours a day in March to assemble the startup's first satellite ahead of a launch deadline. The team operated inside a well-ventilated tent in one of three apartments the company leases in San Francisco's Lower Nob Hill neighborhood to avoid contamination. The apartments have functioned as both home and office for the past two years, complete with a laundry machine, an outdoor gym and stacks of ramen. Basalt aims to provide clients with their own constellations of five to 15 satellites for imaging, navigation and communication services. The approach relies on artificial intelligence to operate the satellites, a step Bhatti describes as essential but still unproven. Lower manufacturing and launch costs over the past five years, along with regulatory changes under the Trump administration, have supported the effort, according to Bhatti. The war in Iran has opened pitching opportunities after providers including Planet Labs restricted access to Middle East feeds. Roughly 15,000 satellites orbit Earth today. Various forecasts expect the total to reach more than four or five times that number by 2030. Basalt is one of eight companies making satellites in the San Francisco Bay Area. Xona Space Systems has opened a 25,000-square-foot production floor and has one satellite in orbit as it develops the Pulsar system to provide positioning and timing services. Earthtraq plans to use radio signals and compact sticker-sized trackers for items and animals. Muon Space has completed 15 satellites and operates a new 130,000-square-foot facility in San Jose. Astranis has announced more than 1 billion dollars in customer commitments for satellites serving the Philippines, Oman, Taiwan and the United States. Bhatti left UCLA in 2023 and moved to San Francisco the next year to join the Y Combinator accelerator. Global spending on satellite manufacturing and data services reached 130 billion dollars in 2024, according to the industry's main trade body.