Overview
Most LEO satellites are launched for commercial use (75.1%) and for the purpose of communications (62.1%).
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Insights from the LEO satellite dataset
Which year saw the most LEO satellites launched?
Who operates or owns the most LEO satellites?
Which country operates or owns the most LEO satellites?
Which rocket has delivered the most LEO satellites to space?
Which launch site has launched the most LEO satellites to space?
What is the most common type of satellite orbit?
Apogee, Perigee & Period
Satellite Mass
Highlights on some of the commercial satellites:
Third heaviest satellite launched by Kepler Communications into space at 4 kg
Kepler-2 CASE is a commercial satellite operated by Kepler Communications (Canada) for the purpose of communications.
Constructed by Clyde Space (UK), it was launched into space using PSLV as the launch vehicle from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on 29 November 2018. Kepler-2 CASE orbits around the Earth as a sun-synchronous LEO satellite.
Kepler-2 CASE has a launch mass of 4 kg and orbits around the Earth with the COSPAR ID 2018-096L and NORAD ID 43729.
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 476km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 500km. The eccentricity of the orbit is 1.75E-03 and it orbits at an inclination of 97 degrees to the equatorial plane of the Earth.
Heaviest satellite launched by Gonets Satcom into space at 280 kg
Operated by Gonets Satcom of Russia, Gonets M-26 is a commercial satellite launched for the purpose of communications.
A polar LEO satellite, it was launched into space using Rokot as the launch vehicle from Plesetsk Cosmodrome on 26 December 2019. Gonets M-26 was constructed by ISS Reshetnev (Russia).
With a launch mass of 280kg, Gonets M-26 is designed to operate in space for a lifetime of 7 years. It orbits around the Earth with the COSPAR ID 2019-096C and NORAD ID 44907.
Taking 116 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 1,500km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 1,507km. The eccentricity of the orbit is 4.45E-04.
With generated usable power of 120 watts, Gonets M-26 orbits at an inclination of 83 degrees to the equatorial plane of the Earth.
Aerocube 14A is a military satellite operated by Aerospace Corporation (USA) for the purpose of technology development.
Constructed by Aerospace Corporation (USA), it was launched into space using Nanorack Deployer as the launch vehicle from Cygnus on 31 January 2020. Aerocube 14A orbits around the Earth as a non-polar inclined LEO satellite.
Aerocube 14A orbits around the Earth with the COSPAR ID 2019-071D and NORAD ID 45114.
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 459km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 474km. The eccentricity of the orbit is 1.10E-03 and it orbits at an inclination of 52 degrees to the equatorial plane of the Earth.
A government satellite, Yunhai-1 2 is operated by Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology of China for the purpose of earth observation (Earth Science).
Delivered via Long March 2D (launch vehicle) from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, it was launched into space on 25 September 2019 and orbits the Earth as a sun-synchronous LEO satellite. Yunhai-1 2 was constructed by Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) (China).
Yunhai-1 2 orbits around the Earth with the COSPAR ID 2019-063A and NORAD ID 44547.
Taking 101 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 782km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 785km. The eccentricity of the orbit is 2.10E-04 and it orbits at an inclination of 99 degrees to the equatorial plane of the Earth.
Compare Yunhai-1 2 with Hubble Space Telescope from ESA/USA.
Second heaviest satellite launched by Air Force Research Laboratory into space at 20 kg
A military satellite, Monolith is operated by Air Force Research Laboratory of USA for the purpose of technology development.
Constructed by Space Dynamics Laboratory, Utah State University (USA), it was launched into space on 29 July 2021 using Electron as the launch vehicle from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1. Monolith orbits around the Earth as a non-polar inclined LEO satellite.
Monolith has a launch mass of 20 kg and navigates with the COSPAR ID 2021-068A and NORAD ID 49052.
With an orbital eccentricity of 7.89E-04, the satellite's perigee, which is the point of the orbit closest to the Earth's center of mass, is 598km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 609km. It orbits the Earth at an inclination of 37 degrees to the equatorial plane of the Earth.
Heaviest satellite launched by Guodian Gaoke into space at 50 kg
Designed for technology development, Tianqi-14 is a commercial satellite operated by Guodian Gaoke (China).
Constructed by Guodian Gaoke (China), it was launched into space on 18 June 2021 using Long March 2C as the launch vehicle from Xichang Satellite Launch Center. Tianqi-14 orbits around the Earth as a non-polar inclined LEO satellite.
Tianqi-14 has a launch mass of 50 kg and navigates with the COSPAR ID 2021-055E and NORAD ID 48864.
With an orbital eccentricity of 8.62E-04, the satellite's perigee, which is the point of the orbit closest to the Earth's center of mass, is 587km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 599km. It takes 97 minutes to orbit the Earth at an inclination of 35 degrees to the equatorial plane of the Earth.
Heaviest satellite launched by European Space Agency (ESA) into space at 1,367 kg
Designed for earth observation (Earth Science), Aeolus is a government satellite operated by European Space Agency (ESA) (ESA).
Constructed by Airbus Defense and Space (France/UK/Germany/Spain), it was launched into space using Vega as the launch vehicle from Guiana Space Center on 22 August 2018. Aeolus orbits around the Earth as a LEO satellite.
Aeolus has a launch mass of 1,367 kg and is expected to have a operational lifetime of 3 years. It navigates with the COSPAR ID 2018-066A and NORAD ID 43600.
Taking 92 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 314km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 317km. The eccentricity of the orbit is 2.24E-04 and it orbits at an inclination of 97 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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