Stocks winning orders from satellite mass production,
across all of Japan.

On October 20, SpaceX reported its July–September results. Revenue was $14.6 billion, 2.6 times a year earlier, and net income was $4.4 billion, swinging from a $1.1 billion loss; it was its first operating profit as a public company. Its connectivity business, mainly Starlink satellite internet, grew 69% to $5.25 billion, and consumer subscribers nearly doubled to 13.6 million from 7.2 million. Launch revenue, at $1.77 billion, grew only about 6%.

The next day in Tokyo, shares of Asteria, which holds a stake in SpaceX, rose as much as 11%.

Satellite mass production is already showing up in Japanese companies' orders. ESPEC, a maker of environmental test chambers, saw orders rise 20.6% to ¥22.8 billion in the April–June quarter, topping ¥20 billion in a quarter for the first time. Satellite communications in North America were strong, and it expects test demand for commercial low-Earth-orbit satellites to last through 2027–2028.

• Source：SpaceX revenue rises 161% to $14.6B as AI business overtakes Starlink (TNW, October 2026)
• Source：SpaceX posts first operating profit as public company (Fortune, October 20, 2026)
• Source：Asteria shares rise as much as 11% after SpaceX results (Nikkei, October 21, 2026, in Japanese)
• Source：ESPEC: quarterly orders top ¥20 billion for the first time (Minkabu / Fisco, in Japanese)

Space stocks tend to bring to mind start-ups that launch rockets and fly satellites. But at SpaceX, satellite internet grew far faster than launches. Starlink and Amazon's network, Amazon Leo, put satellites into orbit by the thousands.

Building thousands of satellites takes parts such as circuit boards, batteries and power supplies, plus test equipment to check that each one can survive in space. The more satellites there are, the more orders these companies should get.

So among companies whose annual reports mention space or satellites, we used Katana to find those that report growing space orders or sales, whether they fly satellites or help build them.

18 companies report growing space orders or sales: the 12 supported and the 6 we added from those needing review. Of these, 11 are on the building side of satellites and rockets, supplying test equipment, parts, materials or software, or making satellites. All 11 made an operating profit.

Companies on the launch side were also judged to have space revenue: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which builds the H3 rocket, IHI, which works on rockets, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, with its aerospace business, and Eagle Industry, which supplies seals for the H3. But all four report growth in orders or sales only for combined categories such as aerospace and defense, so their reports do not show whether the space part grew. That is why they stopped at the question of whether space orders or sales grew. On the launch side, the one company reporting growth for space was NOF, whose shipments of products for rockets rose.

The customers differ, too. Government contracts support the sales of the start-ups that fly satellites. At Astroscale, the Ministry of Defense made up 30.3% of revenue and JAXA 29.4%. Axelspace's imagery sales grew 3.8 times on new customers led by the Ministry of Defense, and Synspective's sales came from deliveries for Cabinet Office and defense demonstrations. ESPEC's test demand, by contrast, comes from private companies running low-Earth-orbit satellites in North America.

The start-ups' losses come from a business that builds and launches satellites first. QPS says depreciation rose ahead of revenue in a year when its fleet grew, leading to an operating loss of ¥0.8 billion. It plans to reach 24 satellites in the year to May 2028 and 36 or more in 2030. ispace expects ¥56.2 billion in contracts, grants and similar funding for Mission 3 onward.

The push to mass-produce satellites is not over. ESPEC expects test demand for commercial low-Earth-orbit satellites to last through 2027–2028 and plans to add production capacity in North America. The US Federal Communications Commission requires Amazon Leo to have 3,232 satellites by July 2029; it has launched 396 so far.

What we looked for are companies whose space orders or sales actually grew, not only those that fly satellites.

• Source：ESPEC: quarterly orders top ¥20 billion for the first time (Minkabu / Fisco, in Japanese)
• Source：Amazon Leo (Wikipedia)