This Chart Shows Every Satellite Orbiting Earth and Who Owns Them

Did you know that more than half of the satellites that orbit the Earth are meant for communications, which includes things like the internet, telephones, television, military applications and radio? In fact, 63% of satellites orbiting the earth are used for communication purposes, with other purposes including the observation of the planet (22.1%), technology development (7.8%), navigation and global positioning (3.6%) and technology demonstration (0.77%).

Click below to zoom

According to the data shown on this visual, it’s SpaceX that currently has the most satellites out there orbiting the Earth. From SpaceX, there are 1,655 satellites out there, and the company is owned by Elon Musk. In 2021, SpaceX even set a new record for being able to bring 143 satellites right into Earth’s orbit from just one rocket. Today, for the price of $1 million, SpaceX even offers trips via rockets to other company’s satellites.

These are the 10 owners of the most satellites orbiting Earth.

1. SpaceX: 1,655
2. OneWeb Satellites: 288
3. Planet Labs Inc.: 188
4. Chinese Ministry of National Defense: 129
5. Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation: 125
6. Spire Global Inc.: 121
7. Swarm Technologies: 120
8. U.S. Air Force: 87
9. Iridium Communications Inc.: 75
10. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO): 63

As for the countries with the most satellites orbiting the Earth, that nod would go to the United States, and by quite a large margin. The United States has approximately 2,804 satellites orbiting the globe, with the second most going to China with 467. These are the ten countries with the most satellites that orbit the Earth currently.

1. United States: 2,804
2. China: 467
3. United Kingdom: 349
4. Russia: 168
5. Japan: 93
6. India: 61
7. Canada: 57
8. Germany: 47
9. Luxembourg: 40
10. Argentina: 34