Leading Space Exploration & Aerospace Companies by Market Cap
Rocket Lab, founded in 2006 and listed on NASDAQ, is the most active publicly traded launch provider — and the closest public proxy to SpaceX, which remains private with no confirmed IPO plans. Alongside legacy defense primes like Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, a growing wave of pure-play space companies now trades on NASDAQ and the NYSE, giving public market exposure to the full space value chain.
The space exploration and aerospace sector spans three broad industry layers: satellite manufacturing, ground equipment, and launch services. Public companies operate across all of them:
- Launch & spacecraft: Rocket Lab (RKLB), Boeing (BA), Firefly Aerospace (FLY) — rockets, lunar landers, and spacecraft systems.
- Satellites & Earth observation: Planet Labs (PL), BlackSky (BKSY), Spire Global (SPIR) — imaging, data collection, and geospatial analytics.
- Defense primes with space divisions: Lockheed Martin (LMT), Northrop Grumman (NOC), RTX Corporation (RTX), L3Harris Technologies (LHX) — satellites, missile defense, GPS payloads, and propulsion.
- Next-generation connectivity: AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) — building a space-based cellular broadband network for global 4G and 5G coverage.
- In-orbit infrastructure: Redwire (RDW), Intuitive Machines (LUNR) — solar arrays, lunar landers, and space station components.
L3Harris expanded significantly into propulsion through its acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne — one of only two U.S. companies manufacturing engines capable of propelling large objects into space. European players like Airbus and Thales also hold major positions in the global space industry, though most trade on European exchanges rather than in the U.S.
Several ETFs track this theme, including the ARK Space & Defense Innovation ETF (ARKX), iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF (ITA), and VanEck Space ETF (JEDI). A broader look at defense and aerospace ETFs covers additional funds.
Regulated brokerThe table below ranks the largest publicly traded aerospace companies and space exploration companies by market capitalization, covering pure-play space firms and diversified defense contractors with significant space divisions. All data — including price and market cap — updates regularly to reflect current market conditions.
| Stock | Price | Change % | Marketcap |
|---|---|---|---|
 General Electric GE | $320.67 | 1.55% | 332.72B |
 Raytheon Technologies RTX | $203.82 | 0.51% | 275.04B |
 Honeywell HON | $224.05 | 0.13% | 71.01B |
 Boeing BA | $173.31 | 1.19% | 137.34B |
 Airbus AIR.PA | $216.97 | 0.29% | 171.22B |
 Lockheed Martin LMT | $639.00 | 0.65% | 147.61B |
 NEXT VISION STABIL NXSN.TA | $58.88 | 1.59% | 0.055B |
 Safran SAF.PA | $322.85 | 1.23% | 133.63B |
 TransDigm TDG | $1,208.04 | 0.46% | 67.57B |
Northrop Grumman NOC | $550.30 | 0.90% | 78.18B |
Rolls-Royce Holdings RR.L | $16.96 | 0.32% | 1.39B |
 Howmet Aerospace HWM | $223.12 | 4.76% | 88.73B |
 BAE Systems BA.L | $26.45 | 4.93% | 0.774B |
Hindustan Aeronautics HAL.NS | $53.60 | 2.39% | 0.036T |
Bharat Electronics BEL.NS | $4.19 | 4.32% | 0.031T |
 Kongsberg Gruppen KOG.OL | $37.36 | 3.52% | 32.86B |
 MTU Aero Engines MTX.DE | $380.71 | 1.55% | 20.51B |
 Leonardo LDO.MI | $56.30 | 2.59% | 32.47B |
Rocket Lab RKLB | $54.43 | 4.53% | 34.80B |
 Elbit Systems ESLT | $756.62 | 1.91% | 35.46B |
SAAB AB SAAB-B.ST | $65.12 | 3.16% | 35.10B |
 Woodward WWD | $332.69 | 4.11% | 19.64B |
 Hanwha Aerospace 012450.KS | $546.24 | 0.68% | 0.028T |
Melrose Industries MRO.L | $6.33 | 0.27% | 0.079B |
 Leonardo DRS DRS | $38.86 | 5.25% | 10.36B |
 CAE CAE | $26.64 | 1.02% | 8.54B |
Loar Holdings LOAR | $68.42 | 0.75% | 6.41B |
 Joby Aviation JOBY | $4.85 | 0.83% | 4.83B |
Bombardier BBD-B.TO | $243.22 | 4.02% | 45.25B |
AST SpaceMobile ASTS | $37.15 | 2.26% | 14.46B |
Archer Aviation ACHR | $4.13 | 0.96% | 3.18B |
AeroVironment AVAV | $123.53 | 0.37% | 6.28B |
 Globalstar GSAT | $83.77 | 1.00% | 10.85B |
Korea Aerospace Industries 047810.KS | $80.86 | 11.82% | 0.00788T |
 Iridium Communications IRDM | $43.87 | 0.30% | 4.65B |
Mercury Systems MRCY | $80.32 | 3.81% | 4.89B |
MDA Ltd. MDA.TO | $27.39 | 4.30% | 4.44B |
Barnes Group B | $37.05 | 2.42% | 60.98B |
ENAV ENAV.MI | $5.93 | 0.67% | 3.20B |
SIA Engineering Company S59.SI | $2.28 | 0.68% | 2.56B |
Intuitive Machines LUNR | $10.48 | 6.29% | 1.69B |
 Planet Labs PL | $13.51 | 4.24% | 4.92B |
Redwire RDW | $8.12 | 3.70% | 2.03B |
EHang Holdings EH | $3.82 | 1.60% | 289.73M |
Montana Aerospace AERO.SW | $28.10 | 0.66% | 1.76B |
Red Cat Holdings RCAT | $4.46 | 0.22% | 681.11M |
 OHB SE OHB.DE | $226.61 | 4.25% | 4.71B |
 Bristow Group VTOL | $40.64 | 1.41% | 1.20B |
Ducommun DCO | $166.70 | 1.86% | 2.52B |
Telesat TSAT | $40.30 | 7.90% | 2.07B |
BET SHEMESH ENGINE BSEN.TA | $239.33 | 0.58% | 0.023B |
Astronics Corporation ATRO | $60.91 | 1.60% | 2.62B |
DroneShield DRO.AX | $0.847 | 7.63% | 0.784B |
AVIO AVIO.MI | $35.13 | 3.27% | 1.72B |
Satellogic SATL | $3.29 | 6.82% | 505.80M |
BlackSky Technology BKSY | $17.44 | 4.81% | 713.73M |
Vertical Aerospace EVTL | $0.381 | 4.05% | 64.27M |
Park Aerospace PKE | $26.14 | 0.58% | 575.90M |
 FACC AG FACC.VI | $14.88 | 0.60% | 681.52M |
TAT Technologies TATT | $38.79 | 3.69% | 504.20M |
 Unusual Machines UMAC | $14.62 | 2.45% | 730.36M |
Frequency Electronics FEIM | $66.59 | 1.23% | 750.69M |
Virgin Galactic SPCE | $2.50 | 1.21% | 378.99M |
Innovative Solutions and Support ISSC | $24.78 | 7.74% | 443.54M |
Latécoère S.A. LAT.PA | $0.013 | 2.54% | 163.84M |
Creotech Instruments CRI.WA | $203.22 | 1.52% | 0.58B |
NSE SA ALNSE.PA | $41.97 | 0.54% | 138.31M |
Surf Air Mobility SRFM | $0.742 | 4.65% | 98.57M |
Sidus Space SIDU | $1.05 | 0.00% | 106.29M |
Sogeclair ALSOG.PA | $30.33 | 0.74% | 92.66M |
ParaZero Technologies PRZO | $0.5 | 2.02% | 14.58M |
AgEagle Aerial Systems UAVS | $0.412 | 4.15% | 25.92M |
Air Industries Group AIRI | $2.58 | 0.96% | 12.53M |
Astrotech ASTC | $4.86 | 3.18% | 10.21M |
Momentus MNTS | $1.86 | 2.20% | 40.85M |
Draganfly DPRO | $3.31 | 3.78% | 129.56M |
StandardAero, Inc. SARO | $25.23 | 0.40% | 8.35B |