From Sputnik to Starlink - Earth's Orbit is Getting Crowded

Satellite data and signals provide crucial inputs for many economic activities - but Earth's orbit is becoming increasingly crowded. In 2020 and 2021, more satellites and space probes were launched into space than in the years 2010 to 2019 combined. As this infographic also illustrates, the number increased rapidly after SpaceX began launching Starlink satellites into orbit. Some 2,800 Starlink satellites from private spaceflight company SpaceX were orbiting the Earth as of August 2022. SpaceX aims to build global Internet access with a total of 12,000 satellites stationed in low-Earth orbit. Elon Musk, who helped found PayPal and is CEO of Tesla, founded SpaceX in 2002.

Nearly 4,900 satellites orbited the Earth on Dec. 31, 2021. The U.S. owned more than 2,900 of Earth's artificial satellites in space as of the date indicated. China was in second place with nearly 500 satellites. The global satellite industry is a particularly lucrative sector of the aerospace industry, with satellite manufacturing, operations and maintenance revenues growing steadily between 2008 and 2018, reaching $271 billion in 2020.