LEO Insider is an independent publication covering the business of Low Earth Orbit. We report on the companies, capital, technology and regulation reshaping the space above us — the constellations being launched, the economics that will decide which of them survive, and the industries being rebuilt underneath them.
Why This Publication Exists
Coverage of the satellite sector tends to split into two unsatisfying halves. Trade press explains the engineering in depth but rarely asks whether the business model closes. Financial media tracks the funding rounds and the share price but treats the orbital mechanics as background colour. Neither is much use if you actually need to make a decision.
The LEO sector does not permit that separation. Constellation altitude determines replacement cycles, which determine capital intensity, which determines whether an operator can ever reach profitability. Spectrum policy decides which competitors exist at all. Launch cost per kilogram is not a technical footnote — it is the single variable that made the entire industry possible. The technology is the business case.
LEO Insider is written for readers who need both, and who would rather have a clearly-stated argument they can disagree with than a neutral summary that commits to nothing.
Who We Write For
- Investors and analysts underwriting satellite operators, launch providers, ground-segment suppliers and the component supply chain.
- Engineers and technical leaders who need the commercial context around the systems they are building.
- Enterprise buyers evaluating satellite connectivity for maritime, aviation, energy, defence, agriculture and remote operations.
- Policy and regulatory professionals working on spectrum allocation, orbital debris, licensing and market access.
What We Cover
Market analysis
Market sizing, segment growth, competitive positioning and unit economics — subscriber counts, ARPU, terminal subsidies, capital expenditure per satellite and the replacement cycles that dictate long-run cost.
Company analysis
The operators and their challengers: SpaceX and Starlink, Amazon’s Project Kuiper, Eutelsat OneWeb, AST SpaceMobile, Iridium, Globalstar and the Chinese and European constellations now entering the field.
Technology
Latency and throughput, optical inter-satellite links, phased-array terminals, direct-to-device architectures, orbital debris and collision risk — always tied back to what each one costs and what it makes possible.
Policy and regulation
Spectrum rights, ITU and FCC filings, licensing conditions, deployment milestones and the debris-mitigation rules that will increasingly determine who is allowed to operate.
How We Work
Every article follows the same discipline: make an argument, show the evidence, name the source, and say plainly where the evidence runs out.
Figures are drawn from primary documents wherever they exist — regulatory filings, company disclosures, published financial statements — and analyst projections are labelled as projections, with the firm and the date attached. Forward-looking numbers in this sector carry wide error bars, and we would rather say so than present a forecast as a fact.
Our full standards on sourcing, corrections, AI assistance and independence are set out in the Editorial Policy. It is worth reading before you rely on anything here.
How We Are Funded
LEO Insider is supported by advertising and sponsorship. Sponsors buy placement and audience; they do not buy coverage, review articles before publication, or influence what we conclude. Any sponsored or paid placement is labelled as such, on the page, without ambiguity. Details for prospective partners are on the Advertise page.
We hold no positions in the companies we cover and accept no payment in equity or tokens.
Corrections and Contact
We will get things wrong. When that happens we want to hear about it quickly, and we would rather correct the record than defend a bad number.
- Corrections and factual disputes: [email protected] — please include the article, the specific claim and a source.
- Tips and story ideas: [email protected]. Specific and sourced gets read first.
- Advertising and partnerships: see Advertise.
- General enquiries: see Contact.
Nothing on this site is investment advice. We analyse companies and markets; we do not tell you what to buy.