As of July 2024, SpaceX owns and operates the most satellites orbiting Earth, with its Starlink constellation totaling 6,111 active satellites. This accounts for almost half of all active satellites in orbit. SpaceX, the California-based firm founded by Elon Musk, owns and operates Starlink. The company plans to expand its satellite fleet to 42,000 active satellites.
The rise of satellite internet constellations has significantly disrupted the broader satellite market, putting pressure on established players from emerging operators. As highlighted in the table below, CEOWORLD magazine determined that 12,994 operational satellites circled the globe in July 2024.
Number of operational satellites in orbit, 2024
| Operator or Category | Number of satellites |
|---|---|
| Starlink | 6111 |
| Geostationary | 1017 |
| Amateur radio | 805 |
| OneWeb | 628 |
| Strela | 565 |
| Military | 563 |
| Space & Earth Science | 528 |
| TV | 410 |
| CubeSats | 166 |
| Experimental | 146 |
| Earth resources | 141 |
| Glonass Constellation | 141 |
| Flock | 132 |
| Weather | 111 |
| Iridium | 110 |
| Parus | 95 |
| Intelsat | 90 |
| Globalstar | 85 |
| Global Positioning System (GPS) Constellation | 75 |
| Lemur | 74 |
| Engineering | 63 |
| Orbcomm | 61 |
| Tselina | 58 |
| Beidou Navigation System | 56 |
| Brightest | 55 |
| Geodetic | 49 |
| Yaogan | 46 |
| Raduga | 44 |
| Westford Needles | 43 |
| Navy Navigation Satellite System | 37 |
| Molniya | 35 |
| Gorizont | 33 |
| Global Positioning System (GPS) Operational | 31 |
| Galileo | 30 |
| Education | 28 |
| Tsiklon | 28 |
| Disaster monitoring | 26 |
| Glonass Operational | 26 |
| NOAA | 26 |
| Radar Calibration | 24 |
| Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System | 22 |
| Tsikada | 22 |
| Gonets | 21 |
| O3B Networks | 20 |
| GOES | 18 |
| ISS | 17 |
| Search & rescue | 16 |
| Russian LEO Navigation | 15 |
| Satellite-Based Augmentation System | 14 |
| Chinese Space Station | 13 |
| XM and Sirius | 9 |
| IRNSS | 8 |
| QZSS | 4 |
| Celestis | 3 |
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