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Indian Express
30-06-2025
- Science
- Indian Express
Top 10 countries with the most satellites in space
The active satellite orbit data, according to the satellite tracking website Orbiting Now, shows that there are about 12,952 objects orbiting our planet Earth, as on Sunday. Out of this huge number, 145 satellites have been launched into the Earth's orbit in 2025 so far, as per Orbiting Now. Satellites are usually placed in several orbits around the Earth such as the Geostationary orbit (GEO), medium Earth orbit (MEO), or the low Earth orbit (LEO). Kongsberg NanoAvionics, a small satellite mission integrator, highlighted that small satellites dominate the LEO while large satellites dominate geostationary orbit (GEO) and medium Earth orbit (MEO). It also noted that the operating satellites are registered in 105 countries or multinational organizations. While the number of satellites are bound to increase in the coming years, we take a look at the top 10 countries which have the most satellites in space: 1. United States As of November 2024, the United States accounted for 8,530 satellites in orbit, the highest number of any nation or organization, as per The sheer number is driven by a blend of government agencies (NASA, DoD), military assets, and private companies, chief among them SpaceX, whose Starlink alone has over 7,400 satellites. 2. Russia Russia is aiming to increase its in-orbit constellation of communications and Earth remote sensing satellites to 2,600 by 2036, Roscosmos State Space Corporation CEO Yury Borisov had said in 2024, adding that commercial satellites accounted for 35% of them. Russia's in-orbit constellation consists of 244 satellites today, he added, according to reports. According to Russia accounts for 1,559 satellites in the Earth's orbit. 3. China China accounts for about 906 satellites in the Earth's orbit, as per data available on spanning government, military and commercial systems. The country saw major launches this year, including that of CERES-1 in March, Long March-6/6A Qianfan batches, and Guowang. 4. United Kingdom According to numbers available with the United Kingdom Parliament, as of March 28, 2025, there are now 763 satellites in orbit, which are all owned by the UK. Most of these satellites are utilised for military ISR, communications, and commercial/scientific purposes, and tech demos. 5. Japan Japan possesses about 203 satellites in orbit as of now, data on showed, which range across government, military, scientific, and innovative domains. Out of these, the country has about 5 operational QZSS navigation satellites (as of Feb-Mar 2025), which it aims to increase to 7 by March 2026, as per reports. 6. France France maintains a diverse fleet of over 100 satellites, for purposes including military intelligence, high-resolution earth imagery, and space-defence demos. According to France's defence government website, the country has the ability to bolster its European satellite sovereignty, with new launches such as CO3D, YODA and more. 7. India India possesses about 136 satellites, including those from private operators or academic institutions, have been launched in the Earth's orbit, as of December 31, 2024, according to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Besides the 22 active satellites in LEO, and 32 in GEO, deep space missions, namely, Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter and Aditya-L1 were also active. These satellites are utilised mainly for navigation, communication, observation, scientific, and tech demos purposes. A PTI report quoting ISRO Chairman V Narayanan stated that India will expand its satellite fleet over the next 3 years, by adding 100-150 new satellites into the orbit, enhancing national security. 8. Germany Germany has about 82 active satellites in space, as per data available on which covers government, scientific, defense and commercial missions. As per Vogon Today, the country is gearing up for a historic leap in its military space capabilities, with Bundeswehr's ambitious project to 'build at least one satellite constellation by 2029.' 9. Canada As per n2yo's website, Canada has launched about 64 satellites into space so far, aimed at Earth observation, communication, scientific and tech purposes. Telesat, MDA, GHGSat and Northstar are the major satellite companies operating from Canada. International collaborations will enable Canada to conduct deep space missions and human spaceflight programs by relying on companies like MDA, according to Space Insider. 10. Italy Lastly, Italy has about 66 satellites in the orbit currently, focused on observation, communications, and navigation. IRIDE (with 34 satellites) and the proposed National Constellation ( ~ 100 satellites) will dramatically expand Italy's space presence by 2030, as per reports.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
SpinLaunch wants to send 250 broadband 'microsatellites' to orbit with a single launch
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. SpinLaunch has unveiled its plans for a new broadband satellite constellation known as Meridian Space. The Meridian Space constellation will consist of small "microsatellites" that can be sent to low-Earth orbit with as many as 250 spacecraft on a single launch vehicle, according to SpinLaunch. The company received $12M in funding from Kongsberg NanoAvionics to help develop and commercialize the satellites, with a planned launch date of 2026 for its first on-orbit demonstrator. It's unclear if SpinLaunch will be launching the demonstrator itself with its revolutionary rocket-flinging centrifuge or if it will hitch a ride on another rocket. The Meridian Space constellation will provide "significantly higher broadband capacity in a satellite constellation compared with what is available on the market today," said Eirik Lie, president of Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace, in a statement. David Wrenn, CEO of SpinLaunch, added that NanoAvionics' small, modular satellite platforms offer "a reliable foundation to scale our constellation quickly and confidently." Along with the statement announcing the partnership, SpinLaunch shared an image of a stack of Meridian Space satellites atop a launch vehicle. The flat satellites appear to stack on top of on another, hinting at how the company plans to fit 250 of the spacecraft on a single rocket. If SpinLaunch can successfully loft 250 satellites at once, it would set a new record for spacecraft launched by a single flight. That record currently stands at 143, set by SpaceX's Transporter-1 mission in 2021. SpinLaunch aims to disrupt the launch services market with its wild new concept for reaching orbit. The company is developing a 108-foot-long (33-meter) spinning arm that accelerates launch vehicles to high speeds inside a centrifuge before flinging them into the sky. Once at altitude, the flung rockets then ignite their engines. The concept greatly reduces the amount of fuel and hardware needed to reach orbit. NASA signed an agreement with the company in 2022 for a technology demonstration that saw third-party experiments from the agency, Airbus and Cornell University lofted to suborbital space with the centrifuge.
