By 
September 29th, 2023
Image credit: Visual Capitalist/Miranda Smith
Nearly 7,000 satellites orbit the Earth, serving vital functions such as communication, navigation, and scientific research.
In 2022 alone, more than 150 launches took place, sending new instruments into space, with many more expected over the next decade.
But who owns these objects?
Industry leader
Visual Capitalist utilized data from the Union of Concerned Scientists to highlight the leaders in satellite technology.
Writer Bruno Venditti and graphics/design expert, Miranda Smith, have produced a helpful guide to understand which companies own the most satellites.
“SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, is unquestionably the industry leader, currently operating the largest fleet of satellites in orbit—about 50% of the global total,” Venditti writes.
“The company has already completed 62 missions this year,” Venditti adds, “surpassing any other company or nation, and operates thousands of internet-beaming Starlink spacecraft that provide global internet connectivity. Starlink customers receive a small satellite dish that self-orients itself to align with Starlink’s low-Earth-orbit satellites.”
Credit: SpaceX/Starlink
Intense competition
In second place is a lesser-known company, British OneWeb Satellites.
The company, headquartered in London, counts the UK government among its investors and provides high-speed internet services to governments, businesses, and communities. Like many other satellite operators, OneWeb relies on SpaceX to launch its satellites.
Despite Starlink’s dominance in the industry, the company is set to face intense competition in the coming years as Amazon’s Project Kuiper plans to deploy 3,236 satellites by 2029 to compete with SpaceX’s network. The first of the fleet could launch as early as 2024.
Most satellites in orbit
“After the top private companies, governments also own a significant portion of satellites orbiting the Earth. The U.S. remains the leader in total satellites, when adding those owned by both companies and government agencies together,” explains Venditti.
American expenditures on space programs reached $62 billion in 2022, five times more than the second one, China.
“China, however, has sped up its space program over the last 20 years and currently has the highest number of satellites in orbit belonging directly to government agencies,” Venditti points out. “Most of these are used for Earth observation, communications, defense, and technology development.”
Non-web users
Despite the internet being taken for granted in major metropolitan areas and developed countries, Venditti observes that “one out of every three people worldwide has never used the web.”
Furthermore, the increasing demand for data and the emergence of new, more cost-effective satellite technologies are expected to present significant opportunities for private space companies.
“In this context, satellite demand is projected to quadruple over the next decade,” Venditti concludes.
Visual Capitalist is an online, global publisher that’s focused on topics including markets, technology, energy and the global economy.
To access the original “Which Companies Own the Most Satellites?” go to:
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/who-owns-the-most-satellites/
Posted in Space News
