Celestial halo

The number of artificial satellites orbiting Earth has been increasing ever since the Soviet Union beat the United States in one of the first legs of the space race by launching Sputnik 1 in 1957. As of mid-2024, over 10,000 active artificial satellites are known to be orbiting Earth, in addition to its one natural satellite – the Moon. Alongside the secrecy concerning state-owned satellites, the number is also difficult to accurately establish due to the phenomenal growth in the number of small satellites in low-Earth orbit. For instance, Starlink is thought to have over 6,200 operational satellites providing low latency broadband internet.

Satellite-based technologies are now an integral part of the modern world’s infrastructure, supporting telecommunications, navigation, weather monitoring, and other applications. While space is largely an empty void, space debris is a serious issue which is only going to become more complex. Around half of the mass orbiting the earth is debris.

Source: Jonathan McDowell, Union of Concerned Scientists, January 2024