SpaceX Pushes Starlink Past 11,000 Satellites, Holding Roughly Two-Thirds of Active Orbit
Updated
Updated · spacedaily.com · Aug 20
SpaceX Pushes Starlink Past 11,000 Satellites, Holding Roughly Two-Thirds of Active Orbit
3 articles · Updated · spacedaily.com · Aug 20
Summary
24 Starlink satellites launched from California on Aug. 19 appear to have lifted the constellation above 11,000 spacecraft in orbit, a threshold reached about seven years after its first full batch flew.
Public counts reconstruct the milestone at about 11,016 in orbit, though the live total shifts as new satellites climb, older ones deorbit and trackers update classifications on different schedules.
Operational totals are lower than in-orbit totals because newly deployed satellites are still raising altitude and some retired or failed craft remain aloft before reentry.
Look Up’s June index counted 15,711 active satellites, including 10,365 Starlinks, supporting the report’s estimate that one commercial network now accounts for roughly two-thirds of the active fleet.
That concentration has reshaped low Earth orbit: in 2019 the whole world had fewer than 2,000 active satellites, while SpaceX alone now fields a constellation larger than all other active fleets combined.
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