The total number of satellites in orbit worldwide exceeds 15,000, with SpaceX leading by a huge margin, accounting for over 10,000.

Foreign Media: Who Owns the Most Satellites?

According to the latest data from the AEI Satellite Data Platform, a total of 15,447 operational satellites are currently being tracked worldwide. SpaceX leads with 10,262 satellites, far ahead of the rest, accounting for approximately two-thirds of the total—more than 16 times the number of the second-place entity.

The main operators ranked by satellite count are as follows: SpaceX (10,262), OneWeb (632), U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (285), U.S. Military (244), China (Institutions) (168), Planet Labs (144), Russian Military (107), NASA (90), Iridium (80), Globalstar (26), and all other operators combined totaling around 3,409 satellites.

SpaceX’s Starlink has abandoned the traditional model of "few high-value satellites" in favor of scale, becoming the benchmark for commercial orbital infrastructure. Data shows that the size of commercial satellite networks is now about 12 times larger than that of public and national institutions—collectively, NASA and various national militaries own only 894 satellites. This marks a historic shift in private sector control over space.

Satellites have become core infrastructure for the modern space economy, widely penetrating sectors such as broadband communications, Earth observation, agriculture, logistics, and defense, attracting increasing interest from investors in this field.

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1865042195728521/

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