4,550 satellites: Is there room in space for billions more?

THOUSANDS HOVERING IN THE SKIES ABOVE US: At any given moment, thousands of satellites hover above us. As they orbit the Earth, satellites have many proven uses: for the government, the military and civilians. Cost-effective internet, broadband or high-definition TV, GPS are impossible without satellites. They offer so much more. An artist's impression released by the European Space Agency depicting satellites in orbit.

EXPLOSIVE GROWTH: It took more than 50 years to reach a thousand active satellites. Over the last five years, however, the growth in the active orbital spacecraft has literally exploded — driven largely by companies like SpaceX (Starlink) and OneWeb developing satellite constellations to provide cell-sites-in-the-sky kind of internet access. Photo shows a 60-member SpaceX "satellite train" for the Starlink project as it was launched into orbit as seen in Leiden, The Netherlands.

4,550 SATELLITES: As of September 2021, there are more than 4,550 satellites already in space. More than half of them are used for communications. That number will only continue to grow as a number of tech billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos roll out projects to bring high-speed web access to nearly corner of Earth. 

SCIENTIFIC, MILITARY, COMMUNICATION SATELLITES: Satellites also serve scientific purposes, such as Earth and space observation. The International Space Station, a product of international collaboration, is an example of a mega satellite. These spacecraft provide the means for high-level technology development. 



LEADER IN LEOS: SpaceX is leading the race, with their Starlink satellite program planning to send more than a thousand new satellites into orbit every year. SpaceX owns an incredible 36% of the satellites in low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites.

700 SATELLITES FROM ONEWEB: The OneWeb satellites are made in collaboration with Airbus Defense and Space. OneWeb places its satellites in orbit 1,200km above the Earth. The firm has passed through several hands, but is currently owned by the British government, Indian conglomerate Bharti Global and satellite telecommunications company Eutelsat.

OneWeb has a grand vision — a 700-satellite network that flies 1,200km above the ground to cover the whole world with WiFi signal, including the half of the planet currently without connectivity. With its high throughput — at >1tbps across the constellation — and global coverage, OneWeb promises to transform the lives of those who are currently "underserved", or simply un-served, by web access.

UP TO 5,000 CELLSITES IN SPACE: On May 25, 2021, Lynk announced that it has applied for a commercial operator's license with the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to offer its “cell towers in space” services around the world. Lynk takes a different approach from other constellation projects. Its goal is not to deploy an internet connection service, but cellular "towers" in space, to provide an automatic backup system to ensure connectivity to areas impacted by cellsite shutdowns.

BY THE NUMBERS: Number of satellites in orbit by country as of January 1, 2022. According to software firm Dewesoft, he United States has the most satellites orbiting Earth, with approximately 2,804. That includes satellites that are governmental and those from entities that operate in the US. There are some 75 different countries have at least one satellite orbiting Earth.