Astranis
Astranis builds small GEO (MicroGEO) communications satellites for dedicated broadband and government connectivity, manufactured in-house in San Francisco.
Background
John Gedmark (CEO) and Ryan McLinko (CTO) co-founded Astranis in San Francisco in 2015 with a thesis that geostationary orbit was underserved by small, affordable dedicated satellites rather than shared capacity or low-Earth constellations.
The core platform is MicroGEO — a software-defined, small GEO satellite built entirely in-house. Newer variants include Omega, optimized for relocatable and multiband coverage, and UtilitySat, aimed at sovereign and government connectivity.
All vehicles are designed and assembled at the company's 153,000 sq. ft. Northern California facility, giving Astranis vertical integration from payload through bus.
Astranis sells dedicated satellite capacity directly to telecoms, ISPs, and governments requiring sovereign connectivity, and pursues U.S. government programs of record as a prime contractor.
Headcount stands at approximately 500 engineers and staff as of mid-2026, a figure that has grown materially since the company's early-stage years.