Ranked by operational satellites on station, from Jonathan McDowell’s tracker as of October 13, 2026. Satellites still being raised, retired satellites and planned ones are kept out of the ranking.
Pictured: video thumbnail for a Falcon 9 Starlink launch (Group 6-80), Starlink being #1 with 9,726 operational satellites.
Rank
Constellation
Operator
Country
Operational satellites
Launched to date
Planned / filed
First launch
Purpose
1
Starlink
SpaceX
United States
9,726
13,075
34,864
2018
Broadband
2
OneWeb (Eutelsat OneWeb)
Eutelsat
United Kingdom
636
660
588
2019
Broadband
3
Amazon Leo (Project Kuiper)
Amazon
United States
355
398
7,736
2023
Broadband
4
Xingwang (Guowang / SatNet)
China SatNet
China
213
261
13,952
2021
Broadband
5
Qianfan (Thousand Sails / SpaceSail)
Spacesail
China
178
258
16,000
2024
Broadband
6
Starshield
SpaceX (for US government)
United States
144
245
1,600
2022
Communications
7
Planet Labs (Doves, SuperDoves, SkySats)
Planet Labs
United States
140
729
150
2014
Earth observation
8
Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture
US Space Development Agency
United States
85
111
1,000
2023
Communications
9
Iridium
Iridium Communications
United States
67
107
75
1997
Communications
10
Globalstar
Globalstar
United States
25
93
48
1998
Communications
11
Rassvet
Bureau 1440
Russia
13
37
1,950
2026
Broadband
12
Kepler
Kepler Communications
Canada
11
33
140
2018
Communications
No matching rows.
As of October 13, 2026. All figures come from one tracker, Jonathan McDowell’s Space Report constellation pages, updated October 13, 2026 (mega-constellations and large LEO constellations);[1][2] counts change with every launch and deorbit. One rule: the ranking uses operational satellites on station only, meaning working at their nominal altitude. Satellites still climbing or lowering, retired satellites and planned satellites are excluded, so the ranking figure is lower than “working” counts from other trackers. “Launched to date” (everything ever put up, including retired satellites) and “Planned / filed” (satellites in the tracker’s filings and plans, which can be far larger than will ever fly) are separate columns and never count toward rank. Inclusion rule: every constellation in the tracker with 10 or more operational satellites; navigation systems (GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, BeiDou) are not in this tracker and are not included. Planned figures for Starlink cover the Gen 1 and Gen 2 filings only (SpaceX’s 100,000-satellite Gen 3 filing is excluded), and Amazon’s covers both filings. OneWeb is listed under the United Kingdom as in the tracker; Eutelsat OneWeb is owned by France’s Eutelsat.
The Top 10
#1
Starlink — 9,726 on station
SpaceX’s network is by far the largest: McDowell counts 9,726 Starlinks on station, 7,308 of them second-generation satellites and 2,418 first-generation ones. Another 1,430 are climbing to or lowering from their working altitude and 1,919 have already come down, out of 13,075 launched. Counting everything that is working, including satellites still raising their orbits, trackers such as KeepTrack show about 10,800, so the two methods differ by around 1,000.[1][3]
#2
OneWeb — 636 on station
Eutelsat OneWeb’s first-generation fleet orbits at about 1,200 km, far higher than Starlink. Eutelsat itself reports 654 satellites in space, roughly 600 for coverage and the rest spares, which matches McDowell’s 636 on station and 660 launched. Eutelsat has ordered replacements from Airbus and says it plans to have more than 1,300 satellites flying by 2030.[1][5]
#3
Amazon Leo (Project Kuiper) — 355 on station
Amazon’s network, rebranded Amazon Leo, has launched 398 satellites, of which 355 have reached operating altitude, and Wikipedia’s launch table lists 396 as operational in orbit, a difference that is again about satellites still being raised. The first-generation filing is for 3,232 satellites, and a second filing (KP2) adds 4,504.[1][4]
#4
Xingwang (Guowang / SatNet) — 213 on station
China’s state-backed national broadband network, built by China SatNet, has put 261 satellites up since 2021 in McDowell’s count. His tracker groups it under the name Xingwang and shows 960 planned for the first group plus a 12,992-satellite filing (GW) with none launched yet under that label.[1]
#5
Qianfan (Thousand Sails) — 178 on station
Also called SpaceSail or G60, Qianfan is Shanghai-based Spacesail’s broadband constellation. Its first 18 satellites flew on a Long March 6A, and the tracker now shows 258 launched against a plan of 16,000, with 80 of them not yet on station.[1][6]
#6
Starshield — 144 on station
SpaceX’s government-focused satellite line, with 245 launched since 2022 and 1,600 planned in the tracker. Details of what the satellites do are largely not public, so the Purpose column here uses the broad label Communications.[1]
#7
Planet Labs — 140 on station
The only Earth-imaging fleet in the list: Planet’s SuperDoves and larger SkySat and Pelican satellites image the whole planet daily. It has launched 729 satellites since 2014, but because small imaging satellites are replaced regularly, only 140 are active and the planned fleet is 150.[1][2]
#8
Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture — 85 on station
The US Space Development Agency’s layered network has launched 111 satellites since 2023 and plans around 1,000. The agency pitches it as a mesh of data-relay and missile-tracking satellites for the US military.[1]
#9
Iridium — 67 on station
The oldest operating constellation here, first launched in 1997, is a 66-satellite mobile and voice network with in-orbit spares, completed in its current form in February 2019. McDowell counts 67 on station out of 107 ever launched.[1][7]
#10
Globalstar — 25 on station
Globalstar’s mobile and satellite-messaging fleet has 25 satellites on station, from 93 launched since 1998, against 48 in the current plan.[1]
