Space in numbers
How many satellites are in orbit, how many are Starlinks, and how many rockets have launched this year, answered from the data behind Every launch since Sputnik. Rebuilt every Monday.
How many satellites are in orbit?#
As of 6 October 2026, 20,038 satellites are in Earth orbit, working or not: 6.2 times as many as at the start of 2003.
4,480 satellites were launched in 2025 alone, against 83 in 2003. Rocket stages and debris aren't counted here; they're under space junk.
| Satellites in Earth orbit on | Count |
|---|---|
| 1 January 1960 | 10 |
| 1 January 1970 | 387 |
| 1 January 1980 | 1,037 |
| 1 January 1990 | 1,785 |
| 1 January 2000 | 3,064 |
| 1 January 2010 | 3,714 |
| 1 January 2020 | 5,419 |
| 1 January 2025 | 14,046 |
| 1 January 2026 | 17,420 |
| 6 October 2026 | 20,038 |
Every satellite where it is now ↗
How many Starlink satellites are there?#
11,145 Starlink satellites are in orbit as of 6 October 2026: 56% of all satellites in Earth orbit.
SpaceX has launched 12,916 Starlinks, and 1,771 have come back down; older ones are brought down on purpose at the end of their lives. Counting the satellites it carried for other operators too, SpaceX launched 13,103 of the 20,038 satellites in orbit (65%).
SpaceX's satellites on the globe ↗
Who runs the satellites in orbit?#
SpaceX has the most satellites in orbit by far: 11,148 of 20,038. Next come Eutelsat OneWeb (690), the Soviet Ministry of Defence (550) and the National Reconnaissance Office (458). The count includes satellites that no longer work, which is why Soviet-era ones are still near the top.
By what they're for, 74% are commercial, 13% military or intelligence, 9% civil government and 2% academic or non-profit; 505 are too new for the catalogues to say.
| Operator | Satellites in orbit | Share |
|---|---|---|
| SpaceX | 11,148 | 55.6% |
| Eutelsat OneWeb | 690 | 3.4% |
| Soviet Ministry of Defence | 550 | 2.7% |
| National Reconnaissance Office | 458 | 2.3% |
| Amazon | 392 | 2.0% |
| US Air Force | 347 | 1.7% |
| Shanghai Spacecom (Qianfan) | 258 | 1.3% |
| China Satellite Network Group (Guowang) | 242 | 1.2% |
| Chinese People's Liberation Army | 217 | 1.1% |
| China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation | 167 | 0.8% |
| Russian Ministry of Defence | 164 | 0.8% |
| NASA | 156 | 0.8% |
| Planet | 127 | 0.6% |
| Soviet Navy | 123 | 0.6% |
| US Department of Defense | 105 | 0.5% |
The three biggest constellations on the globe ↗
Which countries have the most satellites?#
By where they're registered, the United States has the most satellites in orbit, 13,780 (69%), then the Commonwealth of Independent States (former USSR) with 1,676 and the People's Republic of China with 1,620.
| Registered to | Satellites in orbit | Share |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 13,780 | 68.8% |
| Commonwealth of Independent States (former USSR) | 1,676 | 8.4% |
| People's Republic of China | 1,620 | 8.1% |
| United Kingdom | 724 | 3.6% |
| Japan | 236 | 1.2% |
| To Be Determined | 130 | 0.6% |
| France | 129 | 0.6% |
| India | 118 | 0.6% |
| International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (INTELSAT) | 100 | 0.5% |
| European Space Agency | 99 | 0.5% |
| Germany | 98 | 0.5% |
| Italy | 94 | 0.5% |
China's satellites on the globe ↗
How many rocket launches in 2026?#
There have been 236 orbital launch attempts in 2026 so far, to 2 October 2026, against 228 by the same date in 2025. SpaceX flew 114 of them (48%).
2025 holds the record for a year: 324 orbital launch attempts. The Cold War peak was 140 in 1967, a record that stood until 2021.
| Launcher | 2026, to 2 October | 2025, same dates |
|---|---|---|
| SpaceX | 114 | 124 |
| CASC | 47 | 44 |
| Rocket Lab | 16 | 12 |
| Russian Space Forces | 6 | 7 |
| Roscosmos | 6 | 6 |
| CAS Space | 6 | 2 |
| United Launch Alliance | 5 | 4 |
| China Rocket Co. Ltd. | 4 | 4 |
| Arianespace | 4 | 4 |
| LandSpace | 4 | 2 |
| Galactic Energy | 3 | 5 |
| ExPace | 3 | 2 |
How many launches since Sputnik?#
7,633 launches from Sputnik on 4 October 1957 to 2 October 2026: 7,398 orbital launch attempts and 235 suborbital flights, crewed and uncrewed.
523 of the orbital attempts failed or partly failed (7.1%).
| Launcher | Launches since 1957 |
|---|---|
| Soviet Space Program | 2,453 |
| United States Air Force | 1,078 |
| SpaceX | 735 |
| CASC | 617 |
| Roscosmos | 344 |
| Arianespace | 328 |
| Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center | 193 |
| United Launch Alliance | 175 |
| Russian Space Forces | 158 |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | 136 |
Every launcher, with its history ↗
How often do rocket launches fail?#
In 2025, 9 of 324 orbital launch attempts failed or partly failed (2.8%). New rockets fail much more often: 43% of first flights since 2003.
Since 2003, 4.8% of all orbital launch attempts have failed: 137 of 2,831. The maiden flights behind the 43% are listed in the findings.
New rockets and their first flights ↗
How much space junk is there?#
Besides the 20,038 satellites, 2,299 spent rocket stages and 12,525 catalogued pieces of debris are in Earth orbit, as of 6 October 2026.
That's 14,880 tracked objects that aren't satellites, counting 56 that haven't been identified. The catalogue only lists objects big enough to track from the ground, roughly 10 cm and up in low orbit; there are far more smaller pieces. The globe draws satellites only.
CelesTrak's satellite catalogue ↗
How many satellites are classified?#
The US publishes no orbit for 526 satellites in Earth orbit, 490 of them American.
Their orbits are tracked but withheld from the public catalogue. Amateur observers follow some of them, and the globe shows those where it can.
Classified satellites on the globe ↗
Using these numbers#
Quote freely, with a link to this page. The data behind it is free to download at mcval.org/launches/data (CC BY 4.0, DOI 10.5281/zenodo.23184904).