MAY 18 WHICH COUNTRY HAS THE MOST SATELLITES?

MAY 18  WHICH COUNTRY HAS THE MOST SATELLITES?

This week, Elon Musk's SPACE X agency was forced to delay their Starlink Launch. The ambitious project plans to launch sixty satellites into orbit, thus setting a record. Ultimately, this dense scattering from above will provide everyone below with high-speed internet service. It's a stunning development. See, we Earthlings have come a long way from the first Sputnik launch back in 1953. Today, there are an estimated 2,062 satellites orbiting our planet. If you're feeling suddenly spied on, let's see who is operating these space wonders.

Thankfully, there is an international agency that concerns itself primarily with monitoring events in the Last Frontier. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) maintains a database to bring worldwide awareness of what's happening in our planet's gravitational field. In addition to counting each nation's spacecraft, they also categorize by ownership: commercial, military or government. Each satellite's launch date and expected lifetime is also provided. Heck, it even tracks every satellite's apogee, perigee and inclination...but we don't know what those things are.

Not surprisingly, the United States is responsible for 901 of earth's satellites. This is more than the next eight nations combined. Of these, more than half (523) are commercially owned and operated. For example, AT&T has a seven while DirectTV employs four satellites. The US Armed forces has 176 of them orbiting earth, and the US Government is responsible for 164. Let's see who is next on the international chart. At #2 and #3 on the chart are the usual suspects: China (299 satellites) and (Russia (153). Also not surprisingly, most of their satellites are used for the military.

In the fourth place on the list  are Multi-national satellites. This grouping includes entities like the European Space Union and The Pan-Arab Space Agency. Even Central American nations have a space company. Japan, the UK, India and Canada occupy slots #5 - #8, but the most surprising nation in the top ten comes in at #9: Luxembourg. The tiny principality operates the Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA) which is primarily concerned with scientific advancement.

Perhaps the most encouraging part of the UCS study is the fact that militaries worldwide are launching far fewer satellites and the private sector can't send enough up. Elon Musk is confident the Starlink will not only succeed, but pave the path for even greater global coverage in the near future. Finally, having more satellites has also improved one of our most beloved summertime activities: Campfires. It is near impossible to see a shooting star, but you only have to wait a couple minutes to see a satellite crisscrossing the night sky!