The Countries With The Most Satellites In Space [Infographic]

The race for space has started anew as a flurry of private and government projects are once again reaching for humanity’s last frontier. In the past week, Gen. Chance Saltzman of the U.S. Space Force said that the new level of activity seen in space exploration was also increasing the level of threat the United States faces in Earth’s orbit and beyond, as reported by CNBC.

Saltzman’s remarks—and as some may argue, the existence of the U.S. Space Force itself—stands in contrast to the notion of space as a place beyond national interests that has thrived on collaboration rather than confrontation. When the branch of the U.S. military was founded under President Donald Trump in 2019, one of the first organizations to speak out against it was the Union of Concerned Scientists, a science advocacy nonprofit founded at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The main reason for its disapproval was satellite safety, which it saw compromised by a territorial view of space, the same issue Saltzman is evoking as a reason for a heightened securitization of Earth’s orbit.

So what is the best way to keep satellites safe? A look at the Union of Concerned Scientists database of satellites shows that there has indeed been a high level of collaboration in the field—driven by the status of space as a neutral place. The database shows 180 multinational satellites currently in orbit: rank 4 among countries. This count also includes around 60 satellites run by the European Space Agency.

However, the predominance of one spacefaring nation has solidified in recent years: that of the United States. While in early 2020, the country had four times as many satellites as the next nation on the list (China), that rate has increased to almost seven U.S. satellite for every Chinese satellite in orbit as of May 2022. The quick change is in part explained by advances in satellite technology, making smaller satellites that are sent to space in larger numbers possible. While in 2020, just over half of satellites had commercial uses, that share had increased to almost three quarters in 2022.

Outer space threats?

As the commercialization of space is progressing at a fast pace, it is a different type of satellite that is perceived—by the U.S. Space Force and others—to make space less safe. While the data satellites deliver has been disrupted in real life scenarios before, satellites in space have not been attacked by an adversary, even though the possibility of this happening exists, according to CNBC and Saltzman. China has been reported to possess satellites with anti-satellite capabilities, while Russia has tested anti-satellite missiles—placing the securitization of space into a larger geopoliticial conflict.

Due to this, the challenges of keeping space in its neutral state—removed from hostilities down on Earth—will be increasingly difficult as tensions are running higher between nations. High-ranking UN members last year renewed their calls to prevent an arms race in space. In order to preserve space as a blueprint for the possibility of peaceful cooperation, the UN negotiated a treaty as early as 1967, with many signatories and ratifications. Like all UN treaties, however, it is non-binding.

—

Charted by Statista