Over the years there has been significant rise in the number of satellites being sent into the Space, in order to gather accurate and relevant data useful to perform a range of missions such as scientific research, weather predictions, military support, Positioning, Navigation, Timing (PNT), Earth imaging, climate and environment monitoring, and communications.
While the Covid pandemic brought many industries to a screeching halt, the satellite industry on the other hand, has hardly had any struggle to thrive.
According to Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), which keeps a record of the operational satellites, there are 6,542 satellites, out of which 3,372 satellites are active and 3,170 satellites are inactive, as recorded by 1st January, 2021.
However, according to the Index of Objects Launched into Outer Space, maintained by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, there were 7,389 individual satellites in Space at the end of April, 2021; an increase of 27.97% compared to 2020. The database also shows that since inception 11,139 satellites have been launched, out of which only 7,389 are in the Space, while the rest have either been burnt up in the atmosphere or have returned to Earth in the form of debris, much like the recent Chinese Long March 5C rocket, which dived into the Indian Ocean.
In 2020 1,283 satellites were launched, which stands as the highest number of satellite launches in a year as compared to all the previous. However in 2021, almost 850 satellites have been launched as marked by the end of April, which is 66.25% of 2020.
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Causes for the growth in the number of satellites
The dependence of various industries upon the satellite data has made the numbers go up every year. The active satellites have their main purpose of operation in order to collect different sets of data, while some serve for only one particular operation, there are others which serve multiple operations. Here is the list of satellites and their purpose of existence, as recorded by the UCS by the end of 31st December, 2020:
| Number of satellites | Main purpose |
| 1832 satellites | Communications purpose |
| 906 satellites | Earth Observation |
| 350 satellites | Technology development and demonstration |
| 150 satellites | Navigation and positioning |
| 104 satellites | Space science and observation |
| 20 satellites | Earth science |
| 10 satellites | Other purposes |
The top 10 countries which are dominating the satellite industry are USA, China, Russia, UK, Japan, India, European Space Agency, Canada, Germany and Luxembourgh.
The growth in the number of satellites over the last decade was mainly driven by the development of the smaller CubeSat, which allows a large number of small sized satellites to launch at the same time, however earlier rockets were used only to launch one or two satellites at a time.
Other causes can be that the satellites have made geoinformation and Space technologies play a number of roles in various development sectors, such as agriculture, education, food security, climate change, rural development, health, public management, energy and environment as well as in governance, transport water, urban development and disaster management.
Other development factors which caused the rise in numbers of satellite launches is the race for satellite broadband services, especially SpaceX Starlink satellite constellation. In May 2021, SpaceX has launched 172 Starlink satellites in just three launches making their constellation over 1,600, whereas the UK Government part-owned OneWeb has launched 72 satellites in 2021.
Apart from these there are other companies, like Kuiper (a subsidiary of Amazon), and Lightspeed, from Canadian company Telesat who are planning to launch satellite broadband constellations ranging from several hundred to a few thousand.
But do we know, who own them? Here is the complete list:
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Concerns over this growing numbers
The numbers might look fascinating on the surface but on the contrary, it raises severe concern around Space traffic management and Space debris.
According to NASA, there are millions of pieces of junk flying in LEO, which comprises of Space craft, tiny flecks of paint from Space craft, parts of rockets and satellites that are either dead or lost, including objects that are results of explosions in the Space.
Most of this “Space junk” is flying at very high speed and there are high chances of unwarranted accidents to happen, which will produce a dangerous amount of Space debris as well as disturb the channels of the neighboring active satellites, transmitting critical information to astronauts and International Space Centers, it holds potential to create a chain reaction leading to mass disaster. This also poses a threat to safety of people and property on Earth and in Space as well as future operations and Space explorations.
This is the reason why Space traffic management and monitoring Space debris are global challenges that needs to be addressed immediately. The Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC), an international forum of governmental bodies for the coordination of activities related to the issues of man-made and natural debris in Space has provided guidelines for debris reduction and creating safe Space for all. Recently, ESA has commissioned ClearSpace-1 — one of the world’s first mission to remove space debris — which is due for launch in 2025.
The rising demand for data traffic, which requires more bandwidth, coupled with other futuristic innovations and technology will keep the commercial satellite industry flourishing in years to come.
Also Read: How many satellites orbit Earth and why space traffic management is crucial
