Overview
Most Sun-Synchronous satellites are launched for commercial use (57.7%) and for the purpose of earth observation (56.4%).
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Insights from the Sun-Synchronous satellite dataset
Which year saw the most Sun-Synchronous satellites launched?
Who operates or owns the most Sun-Synchronous satellites?
Which country operates or owns the most Sun-Synchronous satellites?
Which rocket has delivered the most Sun-Synchronous satellites to space?
Which launch site has launched the most Sun-Synchronous satellites to space?
Apogee, Perigee & Period
Satellite Mass
Highlights on some of the government satellites:
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.
Compare SpaceBEE-100 with RAAF M2 Pathfinder from Australia.
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.
Operated by University of New South Wales and Department of Defence of Australia, RAAF M2 Pathfinder is a civil and military satellite launched for the purpose of technology development.
Constructed by University of New South Wales (Australia), it was launched into space using Electron as the launch vehicle from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on 13 June 2020. RAAF M2 Pathfinder orbits around the Earth as a sun-synchronous LEO satellite.
RAAF M2 Pathfinder has a launch mass of 9 kg and navigates with the COSPAR ID 2020-037E and NORAD ID 45727.
With an orbital eccentricity of 1.15E-03, the satellite's perigee, which is the point of the orbit closest to the Earth's center of mass, is 586km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 602km. It takes 97 minutes to orbit the Earth at an inclination of 98 degrees to the equatorial plane of the Earth.
Second heaviest satellite launched by Satellogic S.A. into space at 37 kg
Operated by Satellogic S.A. of Argentina, ÑuSat-19 is a commercial satellite launched for the purpose of earth observation (Optical and Hyperspectral Imaging).
Delivered via Falcon 9 (launch vehicle) from Cape Canaveral, it was launched into space on 30 June 2021 and orbits the Earth as a sun-synchronous LEO satellite. ÑuSat-19 was constructed by Satellogic (Argentina).
ÑuSat-19 has a launch mass of 37 kg and orbits around the Earth with the COSPAR ID 2021-059AC and NORAD ID 48905.
With an orbital eccentricity of 8.70E-04, the satellite's perigee, which is the point of the orbit closest to the Earth's center of mass, is 524km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 536km. It takes 95 minutes to orbit the Earth at an inclination of 97 degrees to the equatorial plane of the Earth.
A civil satellite, S-Net-1 is operated by Technical University Berlin of Germany for the purpose of technology development.
A sun-synchronous LEO satellite, it was launched into space using Soyuz-2.1a as the launch vehicle from Vostochny Cosmodrome on 31 January 2018. S-Net-1 was constructed by Technical University Berlin (Germany).
With a launch mass of 9kg, S-Net-1 is designed to operate in space for a lifetime of 1 years. It orbits around the Earth with the COSPAR ID 2018-014G and NORAD ID 43186.
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 572km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 588km. The eccentricity of the orbit is 1.15E-03 and it orbits at an inclination of 98 degrees to the equatorial plane of the Earth.
Designed for technology demonstration, PACE-1 is a government satellite operated by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (USA).
A sun-synchronous LEO satellite, it was launched into space using Falcon 9 as the launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral on 30 June 2021. PACE-1 was constructed by NASA Ames Research Center (USA).
PACE-1 has a launch mass of 10 kg and navigates with the COSPAR ID 2021-059G and NORAD ID 48909.
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 524km 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 8.70E-04 and it orbits at an inclination of 98 degrees to the equatorial plane of the Earth.
Heaviest satellite launched by Finland into space at 80 kg
Designed for earth observation (Radar Imaging (SAR)), ICEYE-X2 is a commercial satellite operated by ICEYE Ltd. (Finland).
A sun-synchronous LEO satellite, it was launched into space using Falcon 9 as the launch vehicle from Vandenberg AFB on 3 December 2018. ICEYE-X2 was constructed by ICEYE Ltd. (Finland).
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 Spire Global Inc. into space at 4 kg
Lemur 2F161 is a commercial satellite operated by Spire Global Inc. (USA) for the purpose of earth observation (Meteorology and Automatic Identification System (AIS)).
Delivered via Vega W18 (launch vehicle) from Guiana Space Center, it was launched into space on 29 April 2021 and orbits the Earth as a sun-synchronous LEO satellite. Lemur 2F161 was constructed by Spire Global (USA).
Lemur 2F161 has a launch mass of 4 kg and orbits around the Earth with the COSPAR ID 2021-034F and NORAD ID 48273.
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 608km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 612km. The eccentricity of the orbit is 2.87E-04 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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