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Satellite catalog
News and explainers on the satellite catalog: how many satellites are in orbit, who flies them, NORAD IDs and how long satellites last.
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What is Kessler syndrome? How a space debris cascade works
Kessler syndrome is a runaway chain of collisions in orbit, first described in 1978. ESA's 2026 report projects low-orbit collisions climbing fast.
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What is OneWeb? Owner, satellite count and orbits
OneWeb is Eutelsat's broadband network in low Earth orbit. On October 11, 2026, our catalog held 651 OneWeb satellites, about 1,200 km up in 12 planes.
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How many Amazon Kuiper satellites are in orbit? Leo's fleet
Amazon reported 396 Kuiper satellites launched by July 2026. On October 11, CelesTrak's active list held 391 Amazon Leo satellites, 375 near 630 km up.
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What are China's Qianfan and Guowang constellations?
China's Qianfan and Guowang satellite constellations had 477 satellites on CelesTrak's active list on October 11, 2026, toward plans of about 15,000 and 13,000.
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What are the different types of satellites? Uses and counts
The types of satellites, by job. Communications are 80.2% of the 16,701 on CelesTrak's active list, Starlink alone 66.6%, while about 10% can't be identified.
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Where does space begin? The Kármán line, 100 km or 80 km
Where does space begin? FAI's Kármán line is 100 km (62 miles), the US uses 50 miles (80 km), and no law sets it. Nothing in our Oct 11 data was below 164.7 km.
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Can satellites connect directly to your phone? How it works
Satellites can connect directly to your phone for texts. Starlink says it has launched 650 direct-to-cell satellites. How it works and who offers it.
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How do satellites stay in orbit? Speed, drag and fuel
How do satellites stay in orbit? They fall all the time but move sideways fast enough to keep missing Earth: about 7.7 km/s at the ISS's 420 km height.
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How long do satellites last? Lifespan by orbit and type
How long do satellites last? Most active ones are Starlinks, built for five years. New GPS satellites get 15, and Landsat 5, built for three, lasted 28 years.
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What are the types of orbits? LEO, MEO, GEO and HEO
The main types of orbits are LEO, MEO, GEO and HEO. Of 16,701 objects on CelesTrak's active list on October 11, 2026, 95 percent were in low Earth orbit.
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What are the Van Allen belts? Altitude, risks and satellites
The Van Allen belts are two zones of trapped particles, about 1,600 to 40,200 km up by NASA figures. Of 16,701 active satellites, 95% stay below 2,000 km.
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How do weather satellites work? Orbits, sensors and data
How weather satellites work: geostationary imagers 35,786 km up scan a full disc every 10 minutes, and low orbiters supply over 80% of forecast model data.
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What is a geostationary orbit? Height, speed and delay
A geostationary orbit is a circle 35,786 km above the equator where a satellite keeps pace with Earth's spin and seems to hang still. We counted 573 there.
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How many GPS satellites are there? Height and how GPS works
The U.S. Space Force counted 32 operational GPS satellites in April 2026, about 20,200 km up. How GPS works, and how Galileo, GLONASS and BeiDou compare.
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What happens when a satellite reenters the atmosphere?
When a satellite reenters the atmosphere it breaks apart about 78 km up and mostly melts away, though tanks can survive. About two Starlinks fall each day.
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How much space debris is in orbit? 2026 counts and risks
How much space debris is in orbit? The US catalog lists about 34,000 objects, ESA counts about 47,000 tracked, and models estimate 1.5 million of 1 to 10 cm.
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What is a sun-synchronous orbit? Polar orbits and dawn-dusk
A sun-synchronous orbit turns 0.9856° a day with the Sun, so Landsat 9 crosses the equator southbound near 10:12 a.m. One in five active satellites flies one.
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The satellite catalog ran out of five-digit NORAD IDs
On July 11, 2026 the satellite catalog issued its first six-digit NORAD ID, 100000. Why it stopped at 69,999, how Alpha-5 TLEs work and what broke.
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Two-thirds of active satellites are now Starlinks
Of 16,621 active satellites in the public catalog, 11,132 are Starlinks. How many satellites are in orbit in 2026, who runs them and where they fly.
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