The Greater Seattle area, traditionally recognized for its roles in commercial aviation, software development, and coffee culture, has also become a significant player in the global satellite industry. While Boeing’s early involvement with NASA and companies like Rocket Research Corporation established a foundation for aerospace activity in the region, recent years have seen dramatic growth in satellite production and related technologies.
According to data from the Puget Sound Regional Council, space industry employment in the Seattle area more than doubled between 2018 and 2022, increasing from just over 6,200 jobs to more than 13,000. This surge is attributed largely to Blue Origin’s expansion in Kent.
Nearly 40 percent of all active satellites as of early 2022 were produced in the Greater Seattle area. The region was responsible for almost two-thirds of new satellites launched worldwide over the past two years. SpaceX’s Starlink project has played a major role; more than 2,300 Starlink satellites manufactured in Redmond have been placed into orbit since 2019. Other companies such as LeoStella—located near The Museum of Flight—along with Xplore and Amazon’s Project Kuiper are contributing to this upward trend.
Seattle also supports an ecosystem of satellite operators and service providers. Spaceflight assists small satellite developers by securing secondary payload opportunities on rockets. RBC Signals builds ground stations for Earth-space communication. BlackSky operates over a dozen Earth observation satellites that deliver rapid imagery updates.
This shift toward mass-produced small satellites marks a change from earlier practices that relied on large, expensive geostationary satellites. Constellations now range from dozens (like BlackSky) to thousands (like Starlink), offering greater resilience through redundancy and lowering operational costs.
Large low Earth orbit constellations provide benefits including expanded broadband internet access and enhanced Earth observation capabilities. For example, Brazil reached an agreement to use Starlink connectivity for rural communities where terrestrial infrastructure is impractical due to geography or political instability. In Ukraine, more than 11,000 Starlink ground stations have supported communications during conflict.
Earth observation satellites have also played roles during crises; BlackSky redirected two Tukwila-built satellites over Ukraine at the start of the war to monitor troop movements and refugee flows.
However, increased satellite numbers raise concerns about astronomy interference and space debris risks. Astronomers observed bright streaks caused by new satellites crossing their telescopes’ fields of view—a problem SpaceX is addressing by reducing satellite reflectivity. The Federal Communications Commission proposed requiring deorbiting of low Earth orbit spacecraft within five years after mission completion to mitigate debris risks.
The Museum of Flight aims to highlight these developments through new exhibits focused on smallsat technology and regional contributions to space exploration. “In addition to the Pacific Northwest’s contribution to human exploration in space, we want to share why we claim the title ‘satellite capital of the world.'”
This article first appeared in Aloft magazine published by The Museum of Flight.
