Overview

This project takes a look into the active satellites currently in orbit around the Earth. The original database was sourced from the Union of Concerned Scientists website and is based on data going up to January 1, 2023. I performed data cleaning and feature engineering using R in R Studio to export a modified version of the original database in a CSV file. I then imported that CSV file into Google Sheets for further analysis and visualizations.

First, I will answer some questions using the data with the aid of some visualizations, and then I will cover the technical details behind this project.

Skills:

  • Data cleaning
  • Feature engineering
  • Statistical analysis
  • Data visualization
  • R

Tools:

  • R Studio
  • Google Sheets

How many active satellites are in orbit around the Earth?

There were 6,718 active satellites in orbit around the Earth as of January 1, 2023. Over 67% of those satellites are operated by the USA and business entities within the USA. Overall the database contains active satellites from 74 individual countries, with the European Space Agency (ESA) being group together as one entity although it represents 15 member states.

Countries with fewer than 16 active satellites are placed into the "Other" category on the bar chart. Active satellites in orbit by country

Who are the primary users satellites?

The database has the primary users into the following categories: civil (academic, amateur), commercial, government (meteorological, scientific, etc.), military and combinations of two of the previously mentioned categories.

Over 78% (5,273) of active satellites are used for commercial purposes. SpaceX's Starlink satellite constellation represents 64% (3,395) of all of the satellites being used for commercial purposes, which makes Starlink the largest satellite constellation by far. Government operated satellites come in at 8.1% (542) followed by satellites being used by militaries at 6.6% (444). Civil satellites only represent 2.3% (154) of the overall data. Users of all active satellites

If we take a look at a few different countries, we can see the proportions vary from the overall data.

Users of USA's active satellites
Users of UK's active satellites
Users of China's active satellites
Users of Russia's active satellites
Comparison of the users of satellites in various countries

What purposes do satellites fulfil?

Over 71% (4,812) are used for communications, followed by Earth observation at 10% (471) and technology development at over 5% (367). SpaceX's Starlink constellation provides global Internet coverage and represents over 70% of the active satellites being used for communications. Purposes of all active satellites

Let's take a look into how the purposes of active satellites vary by country.

Purpose of USA's active satellites
Purpose of UK's active satellites
Purpose of China's active satellites
Purpose of Russia's active satellites
Comparison of the purposes of satellites in various countries

Which countries have satellites with Earth observation capabilities?

There are 1,171 active satellites with the ability to make Earth observations. 54 countries, plus ESA, have active satellites that make Earth observations, which is about 73% of the total amount of countries that have active satellites. The USA has the most Earth-observing satellites at 478 (over 40%), followed by China's 331 (28%). Countries that have active satellites with Earth observation capabilities

What is the oldest active satellite?

AMSAT-OSCAR 7 Satellite By AMSAT g7ahn - Flickr: QSL AMSAT OSCAR-7 (SWL), Public Domain, Link The oldest active satellite is the AMSAT-OSCAR 7 (AO-7) which was launched on November 15, 1974 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on a Delta 2310 rocket. It is an American amateur radio satellite. AMSAT-OSCAR 7 is in a polar orbit in low Earth orbit with a perigree of 1,440 km and apogee of 1459 km. The lifetime of AMSAT-OSCAR 7 is uncertain.

The latest status of the satellite can be found here and a more detailed description of its capabilities can be found here.

Which entity has the most active satellites?

SpaceX started lauching their Starlink satellites in 2018 and in a matter of a few years placed more satellites into orbit than any other single entity. Of the 6,718 total active satellites as of January 1, 2023, 3,395 of those are Starlink satellites, placing the Starlink satellite constellation just over 50% of all active satellites in orbit around Earth.

Starlink satellites versus all other active satellites from 2018 to 2022

Which type of orbit do most satellites use?

Satellites around the Earth are broadly categorized into near circular orbits, and elliptical orbits. The nearly circular orbits are classified into Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), and Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO). For the sake of this question, I will broadly categorize the orbits of active satellites as LEO, MEO, GEO, and elliptical.

There are 5,937 (88% of all satellites) active satellites in LEO making it by far the most commonly used orbit for satellites around Earth. 580 satellites are in GEO, 142 in MEO, and 59 in elliptical orbits.

Orbits of all active satellites
Orbits of active satellites in LEO
Orbits of active satellites in elliptical orbits
Orbits of active satellites in MEO