.orbit
Is .orbit a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
Nobody has applied for .orbit in its own right, as of 7 October 2026. Identity Digital named .orbit as a backup string for its .trip application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup. GoDaddy Registry named .orbit as a backup string for its .drone application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup.
A catchy space-and-tech word that works for a few startups and projects, but most buyers will see it as a novelty, not a home address.
space and aerospace startups, satellite and launch-adjacent projects, and tech brands that already use "orbit" in their name or want a motion/cycle metaphor
No applications recorded for this TLD yet.
Named on the ICANN gTLD application list, 7 October 2026 as a replacement (backup) string of the applicant's .drone application, shown as deactivated: another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup
Named on the ICANN gTLD application list, 7 October 2026 as a replacement (backup) string of the applicant's .trip application, shown as deactivated: another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup
The 2012 applications making the most similar bet. Chosen by AI from every string in that round, without being told what happened to any of them.
Same bet: an everyday abstract spatial noun nobody can claim as their own, sold as an evocative brandable namespace to builders who want a word meaning "room to operate" rather than membership in a named industry, with the identical double duty of literal outer-space connotation plus open metaphorical use.
Same bet: a short, ownerless spatial-metaphor noun with no trade body, profession or community behind it, whose success rests entirely on registrants liking how the phrase reads rather than on qualifying for a category.
Same kind of word — a geometric/motion noun used figuratively for the ring of people or systems around a hub — and the same wager that a figure of speech can carry primary identities, though it leans social where the target leans technical.
What a .orbit domain is
.orbit is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, filed under AI & tech. Nobody has applied for .orbit in its own right. It is named on ICANN’s list as part of an application for another string.
Is the .orbit domain extension real yet?
.orbit is not yet a domain extension you can register: nothing resolves under it, and no registrar sells names in it. Nobody has applied for it on the public record; the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round is the process that would decide whether it becomes one.
When can you buy a .orbit domain?
You can’t yet. ICANN publishes every applied-for string on Reveal Day, 7 October 2026 at 18:00 UTC. A .orbit name can only be registered after that, once the string is delegated and its registry opens. Last round's closest parallel to .orbit was .space, delegated on 30 May 2014.
Is .orbit a real TLD?
Not yet. .orbit is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because ICANN’s list names .orbit as part of an application for another string. Every entry on this page links to its source.
“NA2631T-T83421 · Registry Services, LLC · replacement string of .drone · Deactivated VC2665T-T64313 · Vanity Check, LLC · replacement string of .trip · Deactivated”ICANN
“NA2631T-T42564 · Registry Services, LLC · primary”ICANN
- Band chosen: 30-49, usable but limited. .orbit is a short, pronounceable dictionary word with real metaphorical range (space, cycles, 'in your orbit', community/ecosystem products), so it can plausibly serve as the primary identity of a space-tech startup or a product whose brand already carries the word. It is not in the 50-69 band because the buyer pool is thin and episodic: by analogy (flagged as analogy), broad space-themed strings such as .space have tended to see volume driven by promotional registrar pricing rather than by a sustained community that treats the extension as its default, and aftermarket interest in such strings has generally stayed shallow; .orbit is narrower than .space, not broader. It is not in the 10-29 band because the word is a genuine brand token used across many sectors (software, fintech, consumer products), which gives it a durable trickle of defensive and brand-hack registrations beyond one-off novelty, and a serious aerospace project could adopt it without embarrassment. On the record, the two applications filed for this string (GoDaddy Registry and Identity Digital, both as replacement strings for other applications) are shown as deactivated and the contention count is zero; this is stated neutrally and only informs the observation that no backer with a stated marketing plan for the string is currently on the record, which lowers the odds of registrar-channel push that volume-oriented strings depend on. Main market uncertainty: whether the growing commercial space sector adopts any dedicated extension as an identity signal at all, or continues to default to .com/.io/.space; if a cluster of recognizable space companies chose .orbit as their primary address, the string would move toward the strong-niche band.