Research
The main visualization is a beeswarm chart showing 11,972 satellites launched between
October 4th, 1957, and March 6th, 2022. Satellites are plotted by launch date and apogee (the maximum orbital
distance
from Earth). The information positioned along the frame gives more context to the history, use, and disposal
of space objects.
Since Sputnik, the first satellite launched into Low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957, the
race
to space exploration has grown up steadily. Today, about 100 countries own, control, or co-operate one or more
satellites in orbit.
Table of contents
→ SPACE OBJECTS
→ ORBITAL RANGES
→ COUNTRIES
→ OPERATORS
→ SPACE DEBRIS
→ ASAT WEAPONS
→ END LIFE
Currently, there are about 25,487 objects orbiting Earth: about 8,168 are payloads (the actual satellites or spacecrafts); all the rest is space debris. Rocket bodies, launch stage components, and collateral damages created from incidents, malfunction issues, or Anti-Satellite tests pollute the space until they burn down when reentering the atmosphere. About 303 objects have not been identified yet (To Be Assigned, TBA).
Of all the payloads in orbit, 5,095 are registered as operational (or partly operational). There are 1,484 non-operational space objects: satellites have yet to be activated or simply not working because they had a technical malfunction or finished their mission. The remaining 1,589 have an unknown status.
In addition to height, eccentricity and inclination also shape a satellite’s orbit. A satellite with a low eccentricity orbit moves in a circle around the Earth. An eccentric orbit is elliptical, with the satellite’s distance from Earth changing depending on where it is in its orbit.
Due to the high number of values and length of the rendering process, satellites are spread over 200 km ranges of width, increasing in size at distant altitudes.
LEO is densely populated with thousands of operational satellites today, primarily addressing science, imaging, and low-bandwidth telecommunications needs. Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite constellation is orbiting at between 400 and 500 km of altitude.
MEO satellites bring fiber-like performance to remote areas where laying fiber is not viable. Examples of remote locations are cruise commercial maritime ships, aircraft, offshore platforms, isolated terrains, and humanitarian relief operations.
GEO satellites are positioned at a specific altitude to match the rotation of the Earth as they travel and to remain above the same point on the ground. Hundreds of GEO satellites are in orbit today, traditionally delivering services such as weather data, broadcast TV, and some low-speed data communication.
HEO refers to a geocentric orbit at an altitude higher than the Geosynchronous range, thus having an orbital period greater than 24 hours. The most well-known object in HEO is our Moon, which takes 27 days to orbit the Earth.
The visualization is based on all-time data, so from 1957 to early 2022. The United States and the Commonwealth of Independent States (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine) dominate the scene since they have been operating the 45% and 30% of satellites respectively.
**Ukraine mainly produced Earth observation satellites and CubeSats in cooperation with Russia and other countries of the CIS organization. Out of the seven satellites listed, only one was operational at the beginning of the Russian invasion. Ukraine benefitted from Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites and US intelligence forces to keep the communication services running in the country and among the troops.
The visualization organizes satellites by their operators (companies, organizations, etc.), showing only those monitoring more than 10 satellites. The information is based on all-time data. More than 500 other companies and organizations have been left out of this chart. These operators controlled one to nine satellite each, about the 40% of all the satellites portrayed in the main beeswarm chart.
15% SpaceX
Elon Musk’s SpaceX satellites, which provide space transportation and communications services, dominate the scene
3.2%% OneWeb
OneWeb, a joint venture with Airbus Defence and Space, aims to bring satellite Internet services with a constellation of 648 satellites
1.5% Planet Labs
Planet Labs, accounting for the 1.5%, is a public Earth imaging company based in San Francisco
Assigning a unique category to each satellite is not an easy task. Satellites can
have multiple purposes like space exploration and experimenting with new technologies, and be employed for
civilian and military use.
This pie chart visualization has been designed by assembling multiple sources and
databases. Therefore, it is not flawless or complete.
Earth Observation satellites are intended for non-military uses such as environmental monitoring, meteorology, and cartography. They can vary according to the type of orbit, payload, spatial resolution, and sensors
• Earth resource satellites monitor Earth's oceans, ice caps, and coastal regions. They provide global measurements of wind speed and direction, wave height, surface temperature, cloud cover, etc.
• Flock is a satellite constellation of CubeSats operated by Planet Labs dedicated to Earth Observations. A fleet of small satellites generate high-resolution images of Earth, achieving resolutions of three to five meters.
• Search and rescue satellites are designed to provide a way for vessels at sea and in the air to communicate from remote areas. These satellites can locate emergency beacons carried by ships, aircrafts, or individuals in remote places.
• Lemur nanosatellites are part of a remote sensing commercial satellite constellation that provides global ship tracking and weather monitoring.
• Disaster Monitoring satellites are a unique constellation that delivers daily high frequency imaging anywhere on the globe.
• Satellite-based augmentation system satellites provide service civil aviation in all phases of flight.
• Yaogan is a Chinese earth-observing and remote-sensing satellite platform used for scientific experiments, land survey, crop yield assessment, and disaster monitoring.
Weather satellites are used to monitor the weather and climate of the Earth. These meteorological satellites do not only collect information on clouds but also on city lights, fires, pollution, storms, etc.
• The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) constellation supports weather forecasting, storm tracking, and meteorology research..
• NOAA satellites are operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an American scientific agency that forecasts weather, and monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditions in the US exclusive economic zone.
Satellites built for space observation and exploration are operated to explore the cosmo. Under this category are: satellites which analyses cosmic rays, test new technology in non-atmospheric conditions, and studying other planets and natural satellites of the solar system.
•The Sputnik was the first space program to explore Earth’s orbit and the Moon. Several missions followed like the Gemini, Apollo, Discoverer, Viking, etc.
• Multiple space probes programs have been conducted to fly spacrafts to outer space .
A global satellite navigation system uses satellites to provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning.
•The United States' Global Positioning System (GPS) consists of up to 32 satellites. Operational since 1978 and globally available since 1994, GPS is the world's most utilized satellite navigation system.
• The formerly Soviet, and now Russian, GLObal NAvigation Satellite System (GLONASS), is a space-based satellite navigation system with full global coverage since 1995 and 24 satellites.
• Tsiklon (meaning cyclone) and Tsikada (meaning cicada in Russian) are Russian satellite navigation systems. Tsiklon was the first Soviet satellite navigation system.
• The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) is an autonomous regional satellite navigation system that covers India provinding accurate real-time positioning and timing services.
• The Beidou Navigation System is a project by China to develop an independent satellite navigation system. It consists of two separate satellite constellations, for a total of 54 active satellites.
• Galileo is a global navigation satellite system created by the European Union through the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2016.
Communication satellites are used for television, telephone, radio, internet, and military applications. Most communications satellites are in geostationary orbit so that satellite dish antennas of ground stations do not have to move to track the satellite.
• Amateur radio satellites are specifically designed to be used by amateur radio (licensed) operators. Many amateur satellites receive an OSCAR designation, which is an acronym for Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio.
• Globalstar provides satellite voice and data service across the United States and to over 120 countries worldwide.
• Raduga were the first Soviet geosynchronous communications satellite. Two Radugas could handle all communications of the Russian eastern regions.
• Intelsat is the world’s largest commercial satellite communications services provider.
• The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) is a network of communications satellites and ground stations used by NASA for space communication.
• Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX providing Internet coverage. Starlink consists of over 2,000 mass-produced small satellites in Low Earth Orbit which communicate with designated ground transceivers.
• Iridium satellite constellation allows worldwide voice and data communications using handheld devices. The Iridium network covers the whole earth, including poles, oceans, and airways.
• O3B is a Luxembourgish satellite constellation providing low-latency broadband connectivity to remote locations, for mobile network operators and internet service providers.
• The OneWeb is a planned initial 648-satellite constellation which is in the process of being completed, with a goal to provide global satellite Internet broadband services to people everywhere.
• Orbcomm is a family of LEO communications satellites, operated by the American satellite communications company Orbcomm.
• Gorizont is a series of 35 Russian geosynchronous communication satellites launched between 1978 and 2000.
• Parus is a Russian, previously Soviet satellite constellation used for communication and navigation.
• Sirius XM satellites, operated by an American broadcasting company, provide satellite and online radio services in the United States.
• TV satellites are geostationary satellites delivering television programming. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna (satellite dish).
• Gonets is a Russian civilian communication satellite system in Low Earth Orbit, derived from Strela military communication satellites.
Military satellites are employed for intelligence gathering, navigation and military communications. It is difficult to identify the exact number of these due to secrecy and dual purpose missions.
• Tselina is a Russian, formerly Soviet, military space-based radio surveillance system. It is capable of determining the exact location of radio-emitting objects and also their type, modes of operation, and how active they are
• The Molniya series satellites are military and communications satellites launched by the Soviet Union from 1965 to 2004.
• Strela is a Ukrainian (previously Soviet) military communications satellite constellation operating in low Earth orbit
Communication satellites are used for television, telephone, radio, internet, and military applications. Most communications satellites are in geostationary orbit so that satellite dish antennas of ground stations do not have to move to track the satellite.
• Education satellites are meant to facilitate distant classes from the school level to higher education. Students often built their satellites (CubeSats, standard nanosatellite units of 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm) with mentorship from NASA engineers.
• Space Stations are orbital stations supporting a human crew in space. Each component and transporting vehicle is classified as a satellite as well. The International Space Station (used by the US, Europe, Canada, Japan, and Russia) and the Chinese Tiangong Space Station are the only two operational stations.
• Space telescopes are used to map the entire sky (astronomical survey) and observe astronomical objects or parts of the sky. By being in space, telescopes avoid the distortion of electromagnetic radiation and light pollution.
• West Ford Needles satellites were launched as part of Project West Ford, a test carried out by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1961 and 1963. Thousands of copper antennae (needles) were positioned in a medium Earth orbit to be used to create an artificial ionosphere above the Earth and improve US military communication
• Radar calibration satellites are orbital objects (usually active transponders) used to calibrate ground-based radars.
• Celestis satellites host cremated human remains launched into space, a procedure known as a space burial. One to seven grams of a person's cremated remains are stored as a secondary payload on launch vehicles.
Not portrayed in the chart, the number of orbiting debris was 14,734 as of March 6th, 2022. 18,354 space debris registered were instead already decayed.
Most of space debris fly in Low Earth Orbit, which slowsly become an orbital space junkyard. Due to the rate of speed and volume, space debris must be tracked to avoid collisions with other satellites and interfere with space operations, as well as a possible risk to human life on Earth.
Active Removal
The European Space Agency has studied how the number of debris objects would continue to grow due to the collision rate, even in a future scenario in which no further objects are launched into space. Technologies and procedures for Active Removal of space debris are currently being studied and tested, with a few already active projects.
Although no ASAT system has yet been utilized in warfare, countries like Russia, the United States, China, and India have successfully shot down their own satellites to demonstrate their ASAT capabilities. ASATs have also been used to remove decommissioned satellites. Besides accidental break-ups, satellite interceptions by surface-launched missiles have been a major contributor to space debris in the recent past.
A striking example is the recent Russian ASAT test of November 15th, 2021. The country shot at a defunct Soviet satellite (Cosmos 1408) that hasn't functioned since the 1980s. The impact threatened the lives of the astronauts present on the International Space Station and caused about 1,561 debris. Only 8.7% has decayed as of March 6th, 2022.
Small satellites in Low Earth Orbit can be simply pushed closer to Earth’s atmosphere, where they incinerate. Larger satellites cannot follow the same process: they may cause harm to the population if they do not disintegrate correctly. To avoid the risk, retired satellites are often deorbited to a space graveyard or brought down to specific points on Earth.
Graveyard Orbit (GEO+300km)
eliminate the collision risk, GEO
satellites are usually moved out of the geostationary ring at the end of their mission. 300 km is considered
a
safe distance to avoid future interference with active GEO spacecraft. Satellites have to stop operations
three
months before terminating the fuel and give up considerable revenue to be de-orbited correctly.
Point Nemo
Point Nemo is about 2,688 kilometers away from the nearest land in the middle of the South Pacific. Also
known
as Point of Oceanic Inaccessibility, the watery graveyard holds hundreds of decommissioned satellites and
space stations. The International Space Station is planned to crash here in 2031.