Which company has the most satellites in space? A tip: the owner is controversial

When we look at the sky, we may not notice it, but there are countless satellites circling our planet. The surprise lies not only in the quantity, but mainly in who is most responsible for this occupation space.

Who has the most satellites in the world?

Contrary to what many might imagine, it is not a nation that leads this ranking, but rather the company SpaceX, led by the entrepreneur Elon Musk.

Data collected by the Union of Concerned Scientists and later illustrated in an infographic on the website Visual Capitalist reveal SpaceX’s dominance in outer space. The company has already sent an impressive total of 3,395 satellites. To give you an idea of ​​the magnitude of this number, Russia, one of the great space powers on the planet, placed 137 satellites into orbit.

Image: Getty Images/Reproduction

Behind SpaceX, we have OneWeb Satellites, a British corporation responsible for 7% of satellites in orbit. Next comes the Chinese government, with 5%, and the United States, which holds 4% of the satellites that circle the Earth. However, it is crucial to point out that agreements between companies and governments can also result in joint satellite launches.

The problem of space debris

However, the vast presence of satellites brings to light another critical issue: space debris. These fragments have already been responsible for the destruction of several probes. SpaceX itself, for example, carries out hundreds of maneuvers every day to avoid collisions with this type of waste. In a recent period, between December 2022 and May 2023, the company carried out more than 25 thousand of these maneuvers. With the continuous addition of satellites, this number tends to grow exponentially.

Projections indicate that, by the end of this decade, we could have up to 100 thousand satellites surrounding our planet. This signals that challenges linked to space debris are not only imminent, but will also become part of the space routine. Technological advancement, however beneficial it may be, brings with it responsibilities that demand attention and new solutions.