Satellites by country — who owns what in orbit
17,026 active satellites across 99 countries & operators · live from the catalogue of record · CC-BY, cite as "data: Cosmik"
As of September 2026, 17,026 active satellites orbit Earth, operated by 99 countries and organizations. The United States leads with 12,885 (76% of everything active — mostly Starlink), followed by China. Counts come from the CelesTrak/NORAD SATCAT, the catalogue of record for every object tracked since Sputnik, and refresh daily.
Ready to paste
“As of September 2026, the United States operates 12,885 of the world's 17,026 active satellites (~76%), followed by China with 1,503 — data: Cosmik (gocosmik.com), CC-BY 4.0”
gocosmik.com/satellites-by-country#by-country
Active satellites by country & operator
| # | Country / operator | Active | Payloads in orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 12,885 | 13,740 |
| 2 | China | 1,503 | 1,580 |
| 3 | United Kingdom | 698 | 724 |
| 4 | Russia (CIS) | 386 | 1,714 |
| 5 | Japan | 151 | 245 |
| 6 | To be determined | 129 | 145 |
| 7 | Italy | 81 | 94 |
| 8 | India | 79 | 121 |
| 9 | European Space Agency | 78 | 114 |
| 10 | France | 76 | 129 |
| 11 | Germany | 74 | 101 |
| 12 | South Korea | 62 | 69 |
| 13 | Canada | 54 | 75 |
| 14 | Spain | 52 | 63 |
| 15 | Türkiye | 39 | 44 |
| 16 | SES (Luxembourg) | 37 | 68 |
| 17 | Intelsat | 36 | 100 |
| 18 | Australia | 32 | 41 |
| 19 | O3b (SES) | 30 | 30 |
| 20 | Eutelsat | 28 | 62 |
| 21 | Argentina | 28 | 34 |
| 22 | Globalstar | 27 | 84 |
| 23 | Finland | 27 | 28 |
| 24 | Taiwan | 26 | 34 |
| 25 | United Arab Emirates | 23 | 24 |
| 26 | Norway | 20 | 27 |
| 27 | Israel | 20 | 24 |
| 28 | Greece | 18 | 19 |
| 29 | Singapore | 17 | 20 |
| 30 | Saudi Arabia | 16 | 18 |
| All others (76) | 294 | 466 | |
| World total | 17,026 | 20,037 |
"Active" = payloads with an operational status code; "in orbit" also counts retired payloads that haven't reentered. Operating consortia (SES, Intelsat, Eutelsat…) are listed as registered in the catalogue. Source: CelesTrak SATCAT, fetched 2026-09-01 05:50 UTC, refreshed daily.
Reading the numbers
Two things dominate this table. First, Starlink: the US total is mostly one constellation — see the live Starlink count. Second, the gap between "active" and "in orbit": Russia's six decades of launches left far more retired payloads circling than working ones, part of the wider space-debris problem. The United Kingdom's high count is almost entirely OneWeb, registered there.
Cite this data
Everything on this page is CC-BY 4.0 — reuse it in an article, paper or chart with the credit "data: Cosmik (gocosmik.com)" and a link. Counts refresh daily, so the citation stays live. Custom cuts (by year, by orbit, by operator): hi@gocosmik.com.
Frequently asked questions
Which country has the most satellites?
The United States, by an enormous margin: 12,885 active satellites as of September 2026 — about 76% of the world's 17,026 total, driven mostly by the Starlink constellation. China is second with 1,503.
How many countries have satellites in orbit?
99 countries and operating organizations have at least one active satellite in orbit as of September 2026, per the CelesTrak/NORAD catalogue of record.
Why does Russia have so many more objects in orbit than active satellites?
Six decades of Soviet and Russian launches left a large population of retired payloads that are still in orbit but no longer working. The 'in orbit' column counts every catalogued payload that hasn't reentered; 'active' counts only the ones with an operational status code.
Can I cite these numbers?
Yes — everything on this page is CC-BY 4.0. Credit "data: Cosmik (gocosmik.com)" and link back. The counts refresh daily from the CelesTrak SATCAT, so a citation stays current.
More live numbers
How many satellites are in orbit · Starlink count · GPS satellites · Space debris · Launch cost per kg · All live stats — or watch every one of them move on the 3D map.
