Momentus
Public
What they do:
The space infrastructure services company
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
Top Space & Defense Startups in California
This list has 75 startups and was last updated on Oct 15, 2026. 30 of them are hiring right now. Biggest hubs: San Francisco (47) and Los Angeles (23). Largest teams: Relativity Space, Astranis, and Momentus. Latest round: Vanguard Defense raised $6.28M (Mar 10, 2026).
75 startupsPage 1 of 3
Relativity Space
Hiring
What they do:
Building humanity’s multiplanetary future.
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HQ: Los Angeles, CA, United States
Astranis
Hiring
What they do:
Advanced satellites for high orbits.
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
What they do:
Autonomous electric airplanes
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
Astro Mechanica
Hiring
What they do:
Supersonics for the new Jet Age
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
Icarus
Hiring
What they do:
Stratospheric birds for defense
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HQ: Los Angeles, CA, United States
What they do:
Heart makes electric airplanes with an all-electric range of 250 miles
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HQ: Los Angeles, CA, United States
What they do:
We're building satellites to create a real-time 3D map of the world.
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
What they do:
Mass-produced AI strike systems and Counter-UAS
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
What they do:
Turning space into a transportation layer for Earth
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HQ: Los Angeles, CA, United States
Deepnight
Hiring
What they do:
Building The Next Generation of Night Vision Devices
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
Turion Space
Hiring
What they do:
Moving Things Around in Space, Imaging Space Objects When We're Not
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HQ: Los Angeles, CA, United States
Farcast
Hiring
What they do:
We build advanced satcom user terminals
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
Odys Aviation
Hiring
What they do:
Vertical takeoff and landing aircraft for major airlines
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HQ: Los Angeles, CA, United States
AstroForge
Hiring
What they do:
We Mine Asteroids
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HQ: Los Angeles, CA, United States
Vendra
Hiring
What they do:
Custom Parts, Manufactured in America 🇺🇸
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
Orbital Operations
Hiring
What they do:
High Thrust Space Vehicles for Satellite Defense
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HQ: Los Angeles, CA, United States
Godela
Hiring
What they do:
AI Physics Engine to replace simulations and prototypes
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
Airhart Aeronautics
Hiring
What they do:
Airplanes anyone can fly
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HQ: Los Angeles, CA, United States
TransAstra Corporation
Hiring
What they do:
Orbital logistics: Unleashing space industry, from Earth to asteroids
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HQ: Los Angeles, CA, United States
GroundControl
Hiring
What they do:
Vertical AI for highly-regulated manufacturing
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
Wardstone
Hiring
What they do:
The Modular Interceptor Platform
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HQ: Los Angeles, CA, United States
Navier AI
Hiring
What they do:
Agent-Driven Engineering
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
Theseus
Hiring
What they do:
GPS Denied Navigation for Drones
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
Apolink
Hiring
What they do:
24/7 satellite connectivity in low Earth orbit
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
Cascade Space
Hiring
What they do:
Commercial alternative to the Deep Space Network
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
What they do:
Constellations as a Service
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
What they do:
Moon Hotel -> The Intergalactic Construction Company of Earth
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HQ: Los Angeles, CA, United States
Edgerun
Hiring
What they do:
Military exoskeletons
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
Orca Aerospace
Hiring
What they do:
AI spacecraft operators that lives onboard the vehicle
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
What they do:
Flying motorcycles
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HQ: Los Angeles, CA, United States
General Astronautics
Hiring
What they do:
Superintelligent space Robots
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
Dispatch
Hiring
What they do:
Satellites for Manufacturing in Space
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
Nine Fives
Hiring
What they do:
RF test equipment for next-gen spacecraft, drones, and cellphones
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
What they do:
Autonomous construction on Earth and beyond
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
Vernius Systems, Inc.
Hiring
What they do:
Mass-deployable radars for air defense
Quick facts:
HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
Questions and answers
How many startups are on this list?
There are 75 startups on this list, last updated on Oct 15, 2026.
Which of them are hiring?
30 of them are hiring right now, including Relativity Space, Astranis, and Astro Mechanica.
Which of them have the largest teams?
By team size: Relativity Space (2,500 employees), Astranis (500 employees), and Momentus (125 employees).
Which of them raised money recently?
Latest rounds: Vanguard Defense — $6.28M SAFE (Mar 2026) and Chariot Defense — $33.2M Equity (Feb 2026).
Where are they based?
The biggest hubs are San Francisco (47) and Los Angeles (23).