Statistics

Everything in Earth orbit, by the numbers

A dashboard of the whole catalogue: how many objects fly, who operates them, how fast the population grows and where it concentrates. Every number is read from the latest SatelliteIndex snapshot — nothing is estimated or hardcoded.

Computed 27 min ago · 11 Sept 2026 20:05 UTC · 4 connectors

Headline

Catalogue at a glance

Catalogue

Latest element set epoch just now

Active satellites

17,026

Operational payloads

Objects on orbit

35,658

All tracked objects

Objects catalogued

71,221

Since 1957, incl. decayed

With element sets

16,564

Objects with current GP data

Payloads on orbit

20,080

27,711 catalogued

Debris on orbit

12,532

Catalogued fragments

Rocket bodies

2,427

On orbit

Decayed objects

35,563

97 last 30 d · 1,409 last 365 d

Launch activity

Payloads by launch date

Launched 30 d

280

Payloads

Launched YTD

3,137

Payloads

Launched 365 d

4,775

Payloads

Launches 30 d

Orbital launches

Launches YTD

205

Orbital launches

Launches 365 d

317

Orbital launches

Launches total

6,943

Since 1957

Ecosystem

Entities with at least one active payload

Active operators

Active countries

Active constellations

Composition

What is up there

Browse objects →

Active satellites by orbit classderived

17,026 active

LEO16,070 · 94%
MEO169 · 1%
GEO627 · 4%
HEO51 · 0%
OTHER109 · 1%

Objects on orbit by orbit classderived

35,658 objects

LEO28,600 · 80%
MEO1,008 · 3%
GEO1,770 · 5%
HEO1,092 · 3%
OTHER2,623 · 7%
Unclassified565 · 2%

LEO
MEO
GEO
HEO
OTHER
Unclassified (no element set)

Objects on orbit by type

SATCAT object type

Payload20,072
Debris12,532
Rocket body2,427
Unknown619
Space station8

Type	On orbit	Catalogued	Decayed
Payload	20,072	27,703	7,631
Debris	12,532	35,888	23,356
Rocket body	2,427	6,892	4,465
Unknown	619	730	111
Space station	8	8	0

Active satellites by mission typederived

Active payloads

Communications13,210
Unknown1,887
Military771
Earth observation565
Navigation191
IoT / M2M188
Technology76
Weather62
Science54
Space station22

Mission type is classified by SatelliteIndex from names, constellation registry and CelesTrak groups.

Constellation sharesderived

Top 12 · 80.2% of active satellites

01Starlink11,131 · 65.4%
02OneWeb651 · 3.8%
03USA (classified US military payloads)393 · 2.3%
04Amazon Leo (Project Kuiper)391 · 2.3%
05Qianfan (Thousand Sails / SpaceSail)238 · 1.4%
06Guowang (Hulianwang)204 · 1.2%
07Yaogan164 · 1.0%
08Planet Flock (Dove)119 · 0.7%
09Kosmos (Russian military / government)118 · 0.7%
10Spire Lemur94 · 0.6%
11Iridium NEXT80 · 0.5%
12SES GEO fleet67 · 0.4%

Share = active satellites in the constellation ÷ all active satellites. Bar colour = orbit class. Constellation membership is derived from the SatelliteIndex registry — full ranking.

History

Seven decades of launches and decays

All launches →

Orbital launches per year

1957–2026

Launches with at least one catalogued object (CelesTrak SATCAT, grouped by COSPAR launch id). The last bar is the current, incomplete year.

Payloads by launch year

Still active vs retired

Still active
Retired / decayed

Retired = payloads catalogued for that launch year − payloads still active today (derived from the two snapshot series).

Decays per year

All object types

Objects with a published decay date in the SATCAT. Debris-only breakdown on /debris; recent reentries on /reentries.

Satellite growth ratederived

Last 10 years

Year	Payloads launched	Previous year	YoY change	Still active
2026year to date	3,137	4,492	-30.2%	3,120
2025	4,492	2,796	+60.7%	4,401
2024	2,796	2,867	-2.5%	2,569
2023	2,867	2,393	+19.8%	2,292
2022	2,393	1,768	+35.4%	1,766
2021	1,768	1,235	+43.2%	1,013
2020	1,235	453	+172.6%	411
2019	453	410	+10.5%	150
2018	410	390	+5.1%	210
2017	390	176	+121.6%	146

derived YoY change = (payloads launched in year − payloads launched the previous year) ÷ previous year, computed from the snapshot series. The current year is partial, so its change is not comparable.

Orbital density

Where objects concentrate

Debris growth →

Objects on orbit by perigee altitude (SATCAT + GP). Informational density, not a collision-risk metric. SatelliteIndex publishes object counts only — never collision probabilities. Methodology

Objects on orbit by altitude bandderived

Perigee altitude

LEO 0-200 km66
LEO 200-300 km413
LEO 300-400 km1,761
LEO 400-500 km10,859
LEO 500-600 km3,360
LEO 1000-2000 km3,961
MEO1,008
GEO1,769
HEO1,092
OTHER75
Unclassified328
LEO 600-800 km6,326
LEO 800-1000 km3,758

Band	Objects	Active payloads	Debris	Rocket bodies
LEO 0-200 km	66	5	13	47
LEO 200-300 km	413	121	86	183
LEO 300-400 km	1,761	1,308	238	142
LEO 400-500 km	10,859	10,216	424	112
LEO 500-600 km	3,360	2,013	1,034	161
LEO 1000-2000 km	3,961	1,192	1,889	196
MEO	1,008	169	328	215
GEO	1,769	626	149	258
HEO	1,092	51	636	302
OTHER	75	0	11	42
Unclassified	328	46	178	54
LEO 600-800 km	6,326	903	4,768	294
LEO 800-1000 km	3,758	305	2,771	289

LEO altitude profilederived

25 km bins · perigee

Active payloads
Debris

Inclination profilederived

5° bins · all objects on orbit

Active payloads
Other objects

Debris growth by launch year, fragmentation sources and the largest tracked objects are on /debris. The most populated 50 km shells are listed under Rankings → LEO shells.

Rankings

Leaders and movers

All rankings →

Sources

Connector freshness

All sources →

celestrak_gp fresh
Last success 2 h ago · every 120 min
celestrak_satcat fresh
Last success 2 h ago · every 1440 min · 1 failure
celestrak_groups fresh
Last success 2 h ago · every 120 min
derived_analytics fresh
Last success 1 h ago · every 60 min

Fresh = last success within 3× the connector interval · aging = within 12× · stale beyond that. Orbit class, mission type, constellation membership, activity score and orbital density are derived metrics documented on /methodology.