About Space Bandits

Space Bandits is a hand-curated directory of space startups, maintained since 2019. Not the giants and not the defence primes: the companies that might become them. It was started by Sarwech Shar as a side project cataloguing the most promising early-stage space companies, back when "new space" still needed explaining, and interviewing their founders one by one.

That starting date turned out to be the most valuable thing about it. Because the directory predates the current space boom, it holds something no aggregator can reconstruct: a record of who looked promising in 2019 and what actually happened to them since. Some went public. Some were acquired. Some quietly died, and their old domains now serve parking pages. We mark all of it rather than curating a tidy museum of ghosts.

Today the directory tracks 180 startups across 20 sectors, with $7.6B+ in disclosed funding among the active ones, and 27 founder interviews conducted in their own words. Every funding figure on this site carries a source link, every stage reflects the last publicly disclosed round we could document, and every status change comes from the public record. The full standards are on the how we verify page.

Who it's for

People trying to get into the space industry and wondering who is actually hiring beyond the famous names. Founders sizing up their corner of the market. Operators, investors and journalists who need a researched answer rather than a press-release echo. And anyone who simply wants to follow the frontier.

Are you a space founder?

If you're building a space startup and want to be listed, or want to tell your story in an interview, email hello@spacebandits.io. It's free, and listings are never pay-to-play: nobody can buy a placement, a stage, or a kinder status.

Sponsorships

The site is free and independent. Clearly labeled sponsorships of the site or newsletter keep it that way: hello@spacebandits.io.