With Space Bonds there are important variations:
- Many Space Bonds, the larger and complex, are for institutional investors.
- Other Space Bonds, while available for the generalist investor, may then be restricted by region.
The Large Space Bond Issuers
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX): Issues multi-tranche senior unsecured notes primarily to institutional investors to finance Starlink satellite constellation expansion and Starship infrastructure. Their IPO was not enough, so it seems.
SES S.A.: A global satellite operator (Luxembourg-based) that issues Euro-denominated public corporate bonds listed on European exchanges to fund its O3b mPOWER constellation and ongoing Fleet renewal.
Eutelsat Communications S.A.: French satellite operator (merged with OneWeb) that regularly issues senior unsecured bonds listed on European regulated markets. OneWeb is a bit of cash drain so a space bond makes sense.
Viasat, Inc.: Uses high-yield corporate bonds to finance its ViaSat-3 geostationary satellite constellation and corporate acquisitions.
EchoStar Corporation / DISH Network: A major issuer of high-yield satellite bonds used to fund spectrum acquisition and 5G satellite/terrestrial network deployment.
Telesat LLC: Canadian satellite communications provider that relies on senior secured notes to finance its Lightspeed LEO constellation development.
Space Bonds Research
The European Space Ventures AG research team, while developing their own European Space Bond, compiled a research of the Space Bond market, based on 76 space related bonds.
Research shows three distinct types of issuers and how their metrics differ::
| Segment | Issues | Size | Mean coupon | Coupon range | Term range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defence & Aerospace “The Primes“ | 48 | $27.3bn + €9.8bn | 4.14% | 0.25–8.50% | 3–41 yrs |
| Satellite Operators | 20 | $11.8bn + €6.5bn | 5.04% | 0.88–10.75% | 5–30 yrs |
| Launch / New Space | 8 | $26.2bn | 5.14% | 2.50–6.65% | 5–30 yrs |
“The Primes” (Lockheed Martin, Airbus, Thales, Safran, Leonardo) are the old guard, and as investment-grade industrials that developed space divisions in the last few decades, they’re towering in the table because of what they built, not because their credit is a space industry play. Given their defence heritage they are issuing long tenors: Lockheed alone has bonds running to 2062, 2063 and 2064.
The Satellite Operators (SES, Eutelsat, Telesat, EchoStar) carry the widest credit dispersion. SES and Eutelsat issue at low-to-mid single digits in euros, while EchoStar’s 10.75% 2029s and Telesat’s paper price like stressed credit. This is also where most of the balance-sheet distress shows: 11 of the 13 bonds flagged as partial buybacks sit in this group or at Lockheed.
The Launch / New Space group is really SpaceX (of the IPO over a trillion-dollar valuation fame) plus three small convertibles. Rocket Lab, Virgin Galactic and AST SpaceMobile each issued $355–460m of converts, and all three have largely converted to equity, only $4–18m remains outstanding on each. Strip those out and the segment is basically SpaceX riding on its financial fanbase.
Listed on this website are:
SpaceX Bonds, and
European Space Ventures AG own European Space Bond