Overview
Humanity has sent more than 7,000 satellites into Earth's orbit by 2021, with around 4,500 satellites in active use. This dataset is an interactive table representation of the UCS Satellite Database (1 Jan, 2022) compiled by the Union of Concerned Scientist (UCS).
Most satellites are launched for commercial use (70.5%) and for the purpose of communications (62.8%).Majority of these satellites are LEO satellites, with around 3790 (83.3%) launched so far.
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Insights from the Dataset
Which year saw the most satellites launched?
Who operates or owns the most satellites?
Which country operates or owns the most satellites?
Which rocket has delivered the most satellites to space?
Which launch site has launched the most satellites to space?
What is the most common type of satellite orbit?
Apogee, Perigee & Period
Satellite Mass
Highlights on some of the satellites:
Operated by University of Tokyo and NESTRA of Japan, Hodoyoshi-3 is a government satellite launched for the purpose of technology development.
A sun-synchronous LEO satellite, it was launched into space using Dnepr as the launch vehicle from Dombarovsky Air Base on 19 June 2014. Hodoyoshi-3 was constructed by University of Tokyo (Japan).
Hodoyoshi-3 has a launch mass of 60 kg and orbits around the Earth with the COSPAR ID 2014-033F and NORAD ID 40015.
With an orbital eccentricity of 3.78E-03, the satellite's perigee, which is the point of the orbit closest to the Earth's center of mass, is 613km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 666km. It takes 98 minutes to orbit the Earth.
With generated usable power of 50 watts, Hodoyoshi-3 orbits at an inclination of 98 degrees to the equatorial plane of the Earth.
IRIS.
Designed for space science, IRIS is a government satellite operated by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (USA).
Delivered via L1011 (launch vehicle) from Vandenberg AFB, it was launched into space on 28 June 2013 and orbits the Earth as a sun-synchronous LEO satellite. IRIS was constructed by Lockheed Martin Space Systems Advanced Technology Center (ATC) (USA).
Designed with an operational lifetime of 2 years, IRIS has a launch mass of 236 kg and dry mass of 678 kg. It navigates with the COSPAR ID 2013-033A and NORAD ID 39197.
Using its self-produced usable power of 50 watts, IRIS orbits at an inclination of 98 degrees to the equatorial plane of the Earth.
The satellite's perigee, which is the point of the orbit closest to the Earth's center of mass, is 620km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 664km. Its orbit has an eccentricity of 3.14E-03 and it takes 98 minutes to orbit the Earth.
Heaviest satellite launched by OneWeb Satellites into space at 148 kg
OneWeb-0013 is a commercial satellite operated by OneWeb Satellites (United Kingdom) for the purpose of communications.
Delivered via Soyuz-2.1b (launch vehicle) from Baikonur Cosmodrome, it was launched into space on 6 February 2020 and orbits the Earth as a polar LEO satellite. OneWeb-0013 was constructed by OneWeb Satellites/Airbus (UK).
With a launch mass of 148kg, OneWeb-0013 is designed to operate in space for a lifetime of 5 years. It orbits around the Earth with the COSPAR ID 2020-008A and NORAD ID 45131.
Taking 94 minutes to orbit the Earth, the satellite's perigee, which is the point of the orbit closest to the Earth's center of mass, is 1,215km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 1,220km. The eccentricity of the orbit is 3.29E-04 and it orbits at an inclination of 87 degrees to the equatorial plane of the Earth.
A commercial satellite, AsiaStar is operated by 1Worldspace of USA for the purpose of communications.
A GEO satellite, it was launched into space using Ariane 5G as the launch vehicle from Guiana Space Center on 21 March 2000. AsiaStar was constructed by Alcatel Space Industries (France).
Designated with COSPAR ID 2000-016A and NORAD ID 26107, AsiaStar is designed to operate in space for a lifetime of 15 years. It has a launch mass of 2,775 kg and dry mass of 1,530 kg.
With an orbital eccentricity of 3.32E-04, the satellite's perigee, which is the point of the orbit closest to the Earth's center of mass, is 35,773km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 35,801km. It takes 1,436 minutes to orbit the Earth.
With generated usable power of 5600 watts, AsiaStar orbits along the longitude of 105 degrees.
Heaviest satellite launched by Japan into space at 5,857 kg
A commercial satellite, JCSat 17 is operated by Sky Perfect JSAT Corporation of Japan for the purpose of communications.
Constructed by Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems (USA), it was launched into space using Ariane 5 as the launch vehicle from Guiana Space Center on 18 February 2020. JCSat 17 orbits around the Earth as a GEO satellite.
Designated with COSPAR ID 2020-013A and NORAD ID 45245, JCSat 17 is designed to operate in space for a lifetime of 15 years. It has a launch mass of 5,857 kg.
With an orbital eccentricity of 3.20E-04, the satellite's perigee, which is the point of the orbit closest to the Earth's center of mass, is 35,773km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 35,800km. It takes 1,436 minutes to orbit the Earth.
JCSat 17 orbits along the longitude of 136 degrees at an inclination of 7 degrees.
Heaviest satellite launched by Echostar Satellite Services, LLC into space at 6,900 kg
A commercial satellite, Echostar 21 is operated by Echostar Satellite Services, LLC of USA for the purpose of communications.
Constructed by Space Systems/Loral (USA), it was launched into space on 7 June 2017 using Proton as the launch vehicle from Baikonur Cosmodrome. Echostar 21 orbits around the Earth as a GEO satellite.
With a launch mass of 6,900kg, Echostar 21 is designed to operate in space for a lifetime of 15 years. It orbits around the Earth with the COSPAR ID 2017-032A and NORAD ID 42749.
Echostar 21 orbits along the longitude of 10 degrees at an inclination of 7 degrees.
The satellite's perigee, which is the point of the orbit closest to the Earth's center of mass, is 35,773km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 35,799km. Its orbit has an eccentricity of 3.08E-04 and it takes 1,436 minutes to orbit the Earth.
Get more insights from these satellite datasets
Full datasets: All satellites by launch date | The Heaviest Satellites That Are Launched to Space
By Use Type: Civil-use satellites | Commercial satellites | Government satellites | Military satellites
By Country: USA | UK | France | Germany | Japan | China | Russia | Australia | Canada
By Orbit Class/Type: LEO satellites | MEO satellites | GEO satellites | Elliptical orbit | Polar orbit | Equatorial orbit | Non-polar inclined orbit | Sun-synchronous orbit | Molniya orbit
By Operators: SpaceX | EUTELSAT | SES | European Space Agency (ESA) | Planet Labs | Iridium | Spire Global | OneWeb | Swarm Technologies | NASA - Dataset of Satellites Launched (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) | Canadian Space Agency (CSA) - Dataset of Satellites Launched
By Launch Vehicle: Falcon 9 | Ariane 5 | Ariane 5 ECA | Delta 2 | Dnepr | Electron | Falcon Heavy | Long March 2C | Long March 2D | Long March 3B | Pegasus | Proton | Proton M | PSLV | Rokot | Soyuz | Soyuz-2.1b | Vega
By Launch Vehicle: Cape Canaveral | Baikonur Cosmodrome | Guiana Space Center | International Space Station | Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center | Plesetsk Cosmodrome | Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 | Satish Dhawan Space Centre | Taiyuan Launch Center | Vandenberg AFB | Xichang Satellite Launch Center | Boeing Satellite Systems | Airbus Defense and Space | EADS Astrium | Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems | Space Systems/Loral | Surrey Satellite Technology | Technical University Berlin | Thales Alenia Space