Overview
Most commercial satellites are launched for the purpose of communications (79.5%).Most commercial satellites are launched for the purpose of communications (79.5%).Majority of these satellites are LEO satellites, with around 2847 (88.8%) launched so far.
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Insights from the commercial satellite dataset
Which year saw the most commercial satellites launched?
Who operates or owns the most commercial satellites?
Which country operates or owns the most commercial satellites?
Which rocket has delivered the most commercial satellites to space?
Which launch site has launched the most commercial satellites to space?
What is the most common type of satellite orbit?
Apogee, Perigee & Period
Satellite Mass
Highlights on some of the commercial satellites:
Heaviest satellite launched by Capella Space into space at 107 kg
Operated by Capella Space of USA, Capella-5 is a commercial satellite launched for the purpose of earth observation (Radar Imaging (SAR)).
Constructed by Capella Space (USA), it was launched into space on 30 June 2021 using Falcon 9 as the launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral. Capella-5 orbits around the Earth as a sun-synchronous LEO satellite.
Capella-5 has a launch mass of 107 kg and navigates with the COSPAR ID 2021-059AL and NORAD ID 48913.
Taking 95 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 521km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 536km. The eccentricity of the orbit is 1.09E-03 and it orbits at an inclination of 98 degrees to the equatorial plane of the Earth.
Heaviest satellite launched by Japan into space at 5,857 kg
Operated by Sky Perfect JSAT Corporation of Japan, JCSat 17 is a commercial satellite launched for the purpose of communications.
Constructed by Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems (USA), it was launched into space on 18 February 2020 using Ariane 5 as the launch vehicle from Guiana Space Center. JCSat 17 orbits around the Earth as a GEO satellite.
JCSat 17 has a launch mass of 5,857 kg and is expected to have a operational lifetime of 15 years. It navigates with the COSPAR ID 2020-013A and NORAD ID 45245.
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.
Designed for earth observation (Optical Imaging), Pleiades Neo 3 is a commercial satellite operated by Airbus Defense and Space (France).
Constructed by Airbus Defense and Space (France), it was launched into space on 29 April 2021 using Vega as the launch vehicle from Guiana Space Center. Pleiades Neo 3 orbits around the Earth as a sun-synchronous LEO satellite.
Designed with an operational lifetime of 10 years, Pleiades Neo 3 has a launch mass of 920 kg and navigates with the COSPAR ID 2021-034A and NORAD ID 48268.
Taking 97 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 623km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 626km. The eccentricity of the orbit is 2.14E-04 and it orbits at an inclination of 98 degrees to the equatorial plane of the Earth.
Second heaviest satellite launched by ORBCOMM Inc. into space at 45 kg
Operated by ORBCOMM Inc. of USA, ORBCOMM FM-4 is a commercial satellite launched for the purpose of communications.
Constructed by Orbital Sciences Corp. (USA), it was launched into space using Taurus as the launch vehicle from Vandenberg AFB on 10 February 1998. ORBCOMM FM-4 orbits around the Earth as a polar LEO satellite.
Designed with an operational lifetime of 5 years, ORBCOMM FM-4 has a launch mass of 45 kg and dry mass of 22 kg. It navigates with the COSPAR ID 1998-007C and NORAD ID 25159.
Using its self-produced usable power of 160 watts, ORBCOMM FM-4 orbits at an inclination of 108 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 768km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 838km. Its orbit has an eccentricity of 4.88E-03 and it takes 101 minutes to orbit the Earth.
Heaviest satellite launched by Malaysia into space at 5,800 kg
Measat 3B is a commercial satellite operated by MEASAT Satellite Systems Sdn. Bhd. (Malaysia) for the purpose of communications.
Constructed by Airbus Defence and Space (Germany/France), it was launched into space using Ariane 5 ECA as the launch vehicle from Guiana Space Center on 11 September 2014. Measat 3B orbits around the Earth as a GEO satellite.
Measat 3B has a launch mass of 5,800 kg and is expected to have a operational lifetime of 15 years. It navigates with the COSPAR ID 2014-054B and NORAD ID 40147.
Using its self-produced usable power of 16000 watts, Measat 3B orbits along the longitude of 92 degrees.
The satellite's perigee, which is the point of the orbit closest to the Earth's center of mass, is 35,772km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 35,802km. Its orbit has an eccentricity of 3.56E-04 and it takes 1,436 minutes to orbit the Earth.
Heaviest satellite launched by Finland into space at 80 kg
Operated by ICEYE Ltd. of Finland, ICEYE-X2 is a commercial satellite launched for the purpose of earth observation (Radar Imaging (SAR)).
Constructed by ICEYE Ltd. (Finland), it was launched into space using Falcon 9 as the launch vehicle from Vandenberg AFB on 3 December 2018. ICEYE-X2 orbits around the Earth as a sun-synchronous LEO satellite.
ICEYE-X2 has a launch mass of 80 kg and orbits around the Earth with the COSPAR ID 2018-099AU and NORAD ID 43800.
Taking 96 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 570km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 587km. The eccentricity of the orbit is 1.22E-03 and it orbits at an inclination of 98 degrees to the equatorial plane of the Earth.
Heaviest satellite launched by Swarm Technologies into space at 2 kg
SpaceBEE-100 is a commercial satellite operated by Swarm Technologies (USA) for the purpose of communications.
Constructed by Swarm Technologies (USA), it was launched into space on 30 June 2021 using Falcon 9 as the launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral. SpaceBEE-100 orbits around the Earth as a sun-synchronous LEO satellite.
Designated with COSPAR ID 2021-059E and NORAD ID 48883, SpaceBEE-100 is designed to operate in space for a lifetime of 2 years. It has a launch mass of 2 kg.
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 512km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 536km. The eccentricity of the orbit is 1.74E-03 and it orbits at an inclination of 98 degrees to the equatorial plane of 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
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