Companies taking their businesses into outer space was an idea that seemed like a pipe dream decades ago, but now more than ever, what once seemed like science fiction is fast becoming a reality.
Space is becoming an increasingly attractive venue and staging area for the work of companies across the business landscape, which necessitates the manufacture and development of space-bound craft, goods, and more. Let’s take a look at how exactly space manufacturing has become a bigger player across myriad industries today.
The rise in interest and spending for space manufacturing throughout the decade, particularly in North America, has been strongly linked to the defence sector. Demand for space manufacturing has been driven by the desire of countries like the United States and Canada to bolster their defence spending and positioning by creating and launching more satellites and networks. These networks aim to increase surveillance, create secure communications, establish positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT), and more, with the goal of keeping countries secure and on the cutting edge of the latest technologies.
Other developments in the field are more closely tied to the needs of consumers. For instance, the market is seeing an increased focus on direct-to-device (D2D) technology, an ever-evolving practice that would allow unmodified cellular devices on Earth to communicate directly with satellites orbiting the planet without the need for an intermediary (i.e., a cell tower). Names like Starlink, AST SpaceMobile, and Lynk Global are seeking partnerships with wireless carriers to make D2D a viable reality.
Further tied to general technological advancement is the prospect of AI data centres based in space, although this idea is still in the conceptual phase. The construction of data centres to support AI-based technology is a top concern today, but there’s only so much ground to be broken and cooling technology to go around. Orbiting data centres would not only allow these facilities to be built off-planet but could also bring new solutions to the great amount of cooling they require.
In a piece for Science Focus, Jonathan O’Callaghan says that, “The desire for better products—and the fortunes that can come with them—is the driving force behind the emerging in-space manufacturing industry.” O’Callaghan also says that one of the draws of in-space manufacturing is the lack of gravity, which can allow for new ways of manufacturing that could be more successful than those on the planet when freed from Earth-bound physics. This could mean big advancements for areas like pharmaceuticals and computer chips, both of which are in higher demand than ever before.
There are many players of varying size in space manufacturing, perhaps none more famous than Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (more colloquially known as SpaceX). Founded by CEO Elon Musk in 2002, SpaceX has grown to become both a market and thought leader when it comes to outer space, especially given Musk’s grandiose plans in the wake of new development and cash flow in the space manufacturing sector. On August 4, Musk announced that the company plans to build automated factories on the Moon to support its ongoing venture in creating its Starmind brand of AI satellites. These factories are speculated to be powered by Optimus, a humanoid robot created by Musk’s other worldwide brand, Tesla, which is slated to become commercially available by the end of next year.
In a piece for Space.com, Mike Wall reports that SpaceX was valued at $1.77 trillion at its June initial public offering (IPO), and that its revenue for the second quarter of 2026 reached $7.8 billion. In light of the June launch of its Starfall capsule, a craft built to return payloads from orbit to Earth, as well as the company’s plans for a Moon-based factory and its efforts to increase payloads and shorten launch times, SpaceX will likely be a huge player in the industry for the remainder of the decade and beyond.
Beyond the largest players are other medium-to-large manufacturers that are also bringing a lot to the table. One such company is Rocket Lab, an American manufacturer of launch vehicles, spacecraft, and satellite components based in Long Beach, California. The company’s rockets of varying size are commonly used in the industry and sit comfortably in the middle of the market, between more expensive and smaller launch craft. As such, it has had the opportunity to create spacecraft for other industry leaders like Varda Space Industries, with its Pioneer line providing power, communication, and more for Varda’s reentry capsules.
Space is certainly a place where anyone can chase an idea or a fortune, and although American companies tend to dominate the news cycle, Canadian outfits are creating just as much noise. Ontario-based MDA Space inaugurated a high-volume satellite manufacturing facility in Montreal in May of this year as it continues to secure its place among the world’s major satellite manufacturers.
A perhaps unexpected part of Canada that is burgeoning in the space manufacturing sector is the Maritimes, on the country’s East Coast. This is thanks to companies like Maritime Launch Services (MLS), which is developing Spaceport Nova Scotia near Canso, backed by a 10-year, $200 million lease agreement with the federal government through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA). Once fully developed, Spaceport Nova Scotia will be home to rocket launches on Canada’s East Coast, bringing more traffic and attention to a region often considered sleepier than the centres of Ontario and Quebec.
In September, MLS finalized the terms of its agreement with German company Isar Aerospace to create a dedicated launch complex at Spaceport Nova Scotia. Isar recently achieved the first successful orbital launch by a commercial company from Western European soil (Norway, specifically), and this agreement will help it build a greater foothold in the West. Perched on the Atlantic coast, the spaceport can support both high-inclination and polar trajectories over the ocean, in turn creating a potential route to space for companies interested in bypassing more globalized launch networks.
Developments like these come on the heels of the federal government’s, under Prime Minister Mark Carney, committing $182.6 million over three years in its 2025 budget to increase Canada’s launch capacity. In a piece for Invest Nova Scotia, Jonathan Coles says that Nova Scotia’s growing role in space is aided by the research capabilities of the Dalhousie Space Systems Lab (DSS) at Dalhousie University in Halifax. DSS, in conjunction with MDA and the Canadian Space Agency, was behind LORIS, the first satellite designed, built, and tested in Atlantic Canada, which was later deployed from the International Space Station.
Coles says that Nova Scotia checks a lot of boxes for space-based companies looking to invest in the province—namely, existing launch infrastructure, ready and willing partners that can supply a pipeline of talent, and a cost-effective environment conducive to innovation. As Coles puts it, “[Nova Scotia] has entered a new era of space innovation.”
We may still be far away from classic sci-fi dreams like the flying car, but manufacturing in and around space is no dream. Many companies are taking their operations to the heavens with plans and products that are certainly exciting, both in their novelty and in how they reflect current realities. To paraphrase the great “Macho Man” Randy Savage, when considering the new frontier where innovation and big business are looking to thrive, space is the place.
