Visualizing All of Earth’s Satellites

For centuries, humans have looked to space and the stars for answers. The fascination is more than philosophical—it’s coupled with the need to solve problems here on Earth.

Today, there are seemingly countless benefits and applications of space technology. Satellites, for instance, are becoming critical for everything from internet connectivity and precision agriculture, to border security and archaeological study.

Space is Open for Business

Right now, there are nearly 6,000 satellites circling our tiny planet. About 60% of those are defunct satellites—space junk—and roughly 40% are operational.

As highlighted in the chart above, The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), determined that 2,666 operational satellites circled the globe in April of 2020.

Over the coming decade, it’s estimated by Euroconsult that 990 satellites will be launched every year. This means that by 2028, there could be 15,000 satellites in orbit.

With SpaceX’s planned Starlink constellation of 12,000 satellites and Amazon’s proposed constellation in the works, the new space race continues its acceleration.

Let’s take a closer look at who operates those satellites and how they apply their technology.

Technology with a Purpose

Humans have long used space for navigation. While sailors once relied on the stars, today we use satellites for GPS, navigation, and various other applications.

More than half of Earth’s operational satellites are launched for commercial purposes. About 61% of those provide communications, including everything from satellite TV and Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity to global internet.

Second to communications, 27% of commercial satellites have been launched for Earth Observation (EO) purposes, including environmental monitoring and border security.

Commercial satellites, however, can serve multiple purposes. One week, a satellite may be ‘tasked’ to image a contested border. It could later be tasked to monitor the reclamation of a mining site or even the aftermath of a natural disaster.

Government and civil purposes make up 21% of all of Earth’s operational satellites, and military purposes come in at 13%.

Who Owns Earth’s Orbit? Space Operators

SpaceX—founded by Elon Musk—is not only a disruptive launch provider for missions to the International Space Station (saving NASA millions). It’s also the largest commercial operator of satellites on the planet.

With 358 satellites launched as of April, part of SpaceX’s mission is to boost navigation capabilities and supply the world with space-based internet.

While the company operated 22% of the world’s operational satellites as of April, it went on to launch an additional 175 satellites in the span of one month, from August to September 2020.

Following its series of summer launches, SpaceX announced that it had deployed enough satellites to support the beta version of its satellite-based internet service, Starlink.

Every Commercial Satellite in One Table

Since December 2005, the UCS has compiled data on every operational satellite in Earth’s orbit. In the table below, you’ll find every commercial satellite in orbit, as of April 2020.

Cubesats, microsats, nanosats, and more—the new space race is all about small satellites.

With its flock of small EO satellites, or “doves”, Planet Labs now has more than 150 satellites in operation (however, in April 2020, the number exceeded 250, as per above data).

Even Amazon is preparing for space. In July of 2020, the FCC granted approval for Jeff Bezos’s tech empire to launch and operate an internet constellation of 3,236 satellites.

Nations that Dominate Earth’s Orbit

It may be no surprise that the United States, China, and Russia top the list of countries with operational satellites.

The U.S. and Russia (then the USSR) piloted the space race throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Both nations are found in the top three of current satellite operators, with the U.S. operating nearly half of all satellites—1,308 as of April 2020.

China trails the U.S. with approximately 356 satellites. Taking third spot, Russia has 167 satellites in operation, and the UK comes in at a close fourth with 130 satellites.

Collectively, the above five countries operate roughly 76% of the world’s satellites.

The New Space Race

Where the original space race was a nationalistic competition between Cold War rivals, the new space race is collaborative and commercialized.

Today, international cooperation allows for the deployment of satellites, as well as space-based science. Before SpaceX, NASA and the other space agencies that operate the International Space Station had been reliant on Russian Soyuz rockets for hundreds of missions.

With the success of its famed reusable rockets, SpaceX is on track to reduce launch costs by as much as US$6 million per flight—which is likely to support the proliferation of satellites in the coming years.

With improved technology and commercial partnerships, all signs point to a crowded orbit.

Zooming In: Visualizing the Relative Size of Particles

View the high resolution of this infographic by clicking here.

Lately, the world’s biggest threats have been microscopic in size.

From the global COVID-19 pandemic to wildfires ripping through the U.S. West Coast, it seems as though our lungs can’t catch a break, or more aptly, a breath.

But just how small are the particles we’re currently battling? And how does their size compare to other tiny molecules?

Specks Too Small to See

While the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is relatively small in size, it isn’t the smallest virus particle out there.

Both the Zika virus and the T4 Bacteriophage—responsible for E. coli—are just a fraction of the size, although they have not nearly claimed as many lives as COVID-19 to date.

Coronavirus particles are smaller than both red or white blood cells, however, a single blood cell is still virtually invisible to the naked eye. For scale, we’ve also added in a single human hair as a benchmark on the upper end of the size range.

On the other end of the spectrum, pollen, salt, and sand are significantly larger than viruses or bacteria. Because of their higher relative sizes, our body is usually able to block them out—a particle needs to be smaller than 10 microns before it can be inhaled into your respiratory tract.

Because of this, pollen or sand typically get trapped in the nose and throat before they enter our lungs. The smaller particles particles, however, are able to slip through more easily.

Smoky Skies: Air Pollution and Wildfires

While the virus causing COVID-19 is certainly the most topical particle right now, it’s not the only speck that poses a health risk. Air pollution is one of the leading causes of death worldwide—it’s actually deadlier than smoking, malaria, or AIDS.

One major source of air pollution is particulate matter, which can contain dust, dirt, soot, and smoke particles. Averaging around 2.5 microns, these particles can often enter human lungs.

At just a fraction of the size between 0.4-0.7 microns, wildfire smoke poses even more of a health hazard. Research has also linked wildfire exposures to not just respiratory issues, but also cardiovascular and neurological issues.

Here’s an animated map by Flowing Data, showing how things heated up in peak wildfire season between August-September 2020:

What’s the main takeaway from all this?

There are many different kinds of specks that are smaller than the eye can see, and it’s worth knowing how they can impact human health.