SpaceX’s ~69% share of all active satellites
SpaceX accounts for about 69% of all active satellites, according to the tracking website Orbital Radar.
Trusted & cited worldwide
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Orbital Radar's data and analysis are independently cited by the world's press, institutions, investors and researchers. Every entry below links to the original source.
56+
Documented citations
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Direct backlinks
Orbital Radar is independently cited as a data source by major media (CNN, CNBC, Forbes, Axios, UPI), space & policy institutions (CSIS, the European Space Agency’s eoPortal, the Royal Astronomical Society), professional investors (S&P Global, WisdomTree, American Century) and peer-reviewed research (HEC Paris, SSRN). Below are 56 documented citations across five sectors — each linked to its original source.
As featured in & cited by
CNN CNBC Forbes Axios S&P Global CSIS ESA WisdomTree American Century UPI Live Science Engadget Wikipedia Royal Astronomical Society Seeking Alpha TheStreet
The data behind the coverage
Major media & press 16
Current satellite-population context in a debris/congestion story
Satellites in orbit + active Starlink count
According to Orbital Radar, there are currently 17,501 satellites orbiting Earth — 10,000 of them active SpaceX Starlink satellites.
Starlink’s share of active commercial satellites
Live tracked-object & active-payload counts
Orbital Radar, a commercial tracking platform, listed 28,871 tracked objects in Earth orbit… including 17,479 payloads that it classified as active.
Global space-economy value & forecast ($894bn → $1.44tn)
Falcon 9 upper-stage orbital history
Active Starlink satellite count
Active Starlink fleet size + cumulative launches
Lunar-exploration sustainability (widely syndicated)
Guowang constellation deployment analysis
Satellites in orbit
Starlink vs Kuiper (aviation connectivity)
Active Starlink constellation above 10,400
Active-payload count framing a company ranking
Debris environment near Apophis’ 2029 flyby altitude
Institutions, policy & science 7
Chinese constellation build-out (Guowang & Qianfan) — figure source line & endnotes
CAPELLA-19 (ACADIA) — formal spacecraft-record reference
BRO-22 (Unseenlabs) — formal spacecraft-record reference
Live tracked-object & active-satellite figures in a public warning on ground-based astronomy
Government Space Budgets by Country — formal reference
Starlink counts in an AI-regulation analysis
Active satellites by operator — published figure
Investment & finance 12
~17,000-satellite figure in a capital-flows webinar (Market Intelligence / Kagan)
Commercial share of the global space economy (~78%) — formal source ‘2’
2 Source: Orbital Radar.
Active satellites operating in low Earth orbit
Nearly 13,000 active satellites are already operating there, according to orbitalradar.com.
Commercial/government split of the global space economy
Launch Cost Trends (reusable-rocket cost decline)
Space-economy size + launch economics (two datasets)
Global space economy + SpaceX/Starlink scale figures
Chart of largest space companies by revenue — “Source: Orbital Radar”
Launch Cost Trends listed in formal research disclosures (XPANSE)
Launch cost trends ($SPCX IPO analysis)
Global Space Economy in sources & references
Launch-cost analysis in investment research sources
Academic & research 4
Space Debris Tracking cited in a doctoral thesis (HAL national repository)
Launch-cost analysis in a published aerospace paper
Global Space Economy data in an ESG / space-law paper
Debris-responsibility table + major-debris-events catalogue
Industry, reference & specialist 12
3 distinct articles — Israel Space Agency (EN), Lanceur lourd / H3 (FR), Starlink (FR)
Amazon Leo operational satellite counts
Debris statistics in an official corporate announcement
Launch economics + Guowang + government budgets (multi-dataset)
Debris stats + Kessler cascade + tracking (Sources & Evidence Base)
Individual satellite record + Guowang/Qianfan tracker in a defence assessment
Space-economy size & forecast (weekly bulletin)
Repeated use across Starlink / re-entry observation guides
Space-economy outlook analysis
Launch-cost trends (Starship analysis)
Starlink counts (AI-regulation newsletter)
LEO-constellation & SpaceX structural-shift insights
Expert & community adoption 5
Kept separate from the editorial & institutional record above: expert astronomers, museums and community resources that use or share Orbital Radar (some via social posts).
Shared the eclipse tracker with readers on total-eclipse day
Used Orbital Radar to identify & follow the Falcon 9 rocket body
Starlink / space-economy figures in an investor briefing
“Screenshot from orbitalradar.com” credited in a Kessler-Syndrome episode
Featured in the community resource list
How to read this page. Every entry is a genuine third-party use of Orbital Radar, verified to the original source.
LINKS an in-text hyperlink to Orbital Radar
CITED named as a source, no live hyperlink
Coverage citing Orbital Radar is also syndicated internationally — via MSN (US, UK & Hong Kong), Nasdaq, Yahoo Finance, Moneycontrol, CNA and regional press. Syndicated copies are treated as reach, not counted as separate citations.
Frequently asked
Is Orbital Radar a credible, citable source?
Yes. Orbital Radar’s data and analysis are independently cited by major media outlets, space and policy institutions, professional investment firms and peer-reviewed academic research. This page documents 56 verified third-party citations, each linked to its original source.
Who cites Orbital Radar’s data?
Citing organisations include CNN, CNBC, Forbes, Axios and UPI in media; CSIS, the European Space Agency’s eoPortal and the Royal Astronomical Society among institutions; S&P Global, WisdomTree and American Century in finance; and researchers at HEC Paris and on SSRN.
What is Orbital Radar cited for?
For live satellite counts, Starlink fleet data, operator rankings, individual spacecraft records, space-debris statistics, launch-cost trends, government space budgets and global space-economy analysis.
How should I cite Orbital Radar?
Credit “Orbital Radar” with a link to the specific page used — for example orbitalradar.com/how-many-satellites-in-orbit. See our press & content-usage guidance for details.
Covered or cited Orbital Radar?
Tell us and we'll add it — every credible editorial, institutional or research citation is welcome.
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