The Great American Satellite Age Has Begun

The American satellite industry is entering a transformative era, and a new wave of startups is pushing the boundaries of what private space technology can achieve. At the forefront of this movement is Basalt Space, a scrappy San Francisco-based company whose five engineers, all in their 20s, recently pulled 22-hour days in March to assemble their first satellite before a critical launch window. CEO Max Bhatti compares the grueling schedule to China’s infamous 996 work culture, calling it a “vacation” by contrast. The team assembled the delicate electronics inside a well-ventilated tent that Bhatti claims is cleaner than a hospital operating room, located in one of three adjacent apartments the company leases in Lower Nob Hill. These apartments have doubled as both home and office for two years, complete with a laundry machine, an outdoor gym, and stacks of ramen,hallmarks of a classic hacker house.

Basalt is part of a broader generation of startups aiming to democratize access to satellite imaging, navigation, and communication services. The vision is bold: a world where more of the planet is continuously photographed, more items are tracked in real time, and customers no longer fear having their data cut off by gatekeepers like Starlink. For decades, from the launch of the first satellite in 1957 until recently, governments and defense contractors held a near-monopoly on space data. Alternatives like Globalstar, Planet Labs, and Skybox Imaging emerged, launching low-cost satellites to sell specific data to paying clients. But Basalt wants to go further, offering any client the ability to lease or own a custom constellation of five to 15 satellites,similar to how cloud computing firms provide access to vast data centers. The implications are significant: faster satellite data could help farmers stop pests and diseases before they spread, while fewer restrictions on access could empower news organizations and investors to better understand migration patterns and global trade.

Bhatti’s founding question was simple but radical: “What’s the most fundamental thing we could change about the aerospace industry?” His answer is that end users should be able to directly task an entire constellation, not just a single satellite. To make this work, Basalt plans to operate its satellites using artificial intelligence instead of human operators,a crucial but unproven element of the business model. The startup has been helped by the rapid decline in manufacturing and launch costs over the past five years, as well as recent regulatory relaxations under the Trump administration. “A lot of the hoops that you would jump through are gone,” Bhatti says, declining to specify which regulations were eased, but noting that the change is welcomed across the industry.

The ongoing conflict in Iran has also created a golden opportunity for Basalt to pitch its technology. Planet Labs and other satellite imagery providers recently restricted access to feeds from the Middle East, citing concerns about misuse during the war. Bhatti argues that for the thousands of dollars a month customers currently pay to a satellite imaging provider, they could instead lease or own their own constellation through Basalt. “No one can cut you in line. No one can turn off the data,” he says, though it remains unclear whether that promise will hold up under future regulatory pressure. “Especially in times like this, it’s kind of obvious how important it is to actually see what’s going on on the ground. What is really the truth?”

Despite the optimism, Basalt and its peers face significant questions. Will customers materialize in the volumes they expect? A few years ago, satellite startups bet heavily on demand for climate change data, only to find that their services now primarily serve military clients. Backlash against space junk, light pollution, and other environmental impacts could intensify as the industry expands. And the prospect of more intrusive surveillance from space may draw civil liberties activists into a fight. The great American satellite age has begun, but its ultimate shape remains uncertain.