Orbital traffic surges, as 13,000 active satellites recorded

Look Up, a French space situational awareness company, has partnered with weekly magazine Le Point to publicly release large-scale figures on orbital traffic.

With the continuous growth in launches and active satellites, the deployment of mega-constellations, the evolving balance of power among spacefaring nations, and rising geopolitical tensions, the Look Up × Le Point Space Barometer — based on data collected and processed by Look Up’s SYNAPSE digital platform — highlights the major trends shaping orbital activity today.

“Earth orbits have become a strategic domain where orbital traffic reflects the technological race, economic competition, and geopolitical, sometimes even military, power struggles,” said Michel Friedling, co-founder and CEO of Look Up. “With our Look Up × Le Point Barometer, we aim to reveal the data behind these dynamics and showcase tangible examples of the new race for space.”

As of 1 October 2025, there were 15,965 satellites catalogued around Earth, including 13,026 active satellites, marking a 23% year-on-year increase (with 2477 net new satellites, ie, launches minus deorbiting). This surge illustrates the accelerating deployment of commercial constellations delivering telecommunications and Earth-observation services, and continues a long-term trend: just six years ago, fewer than 2000 satellites were operational.

The country breakdown shows clear US dominance, with 9641 active satellites — nearly three-quarters of the total — driven primarily by SpaceX’s Starlink mega-constellation with 8366 satellites (1963 in 2024 alone). China is catching up with 1102 active satellites (+25% in a year), notably deploying Starlink-like constellations such as QianFan (90 sats) and GuoWang (57 sats). Europe ranks third, mainly with Eutelsat OneWeb’s 651 satellites, but lags far behind in terms of new launches.

While 3664 satellites were launched in the past 12 months, 2165 space objects (including 1182 satellites and 109 rocket bodies) were deorbited. However, these efforts have not curbed overall orbital population growth: there are now 31,019 catalogued objects, including 12,833 pieces of debris over 10 cm.

“Space has never been as crowded and contested as it is today,” Friedling concluded.

Image credit: iStock.com/yucelyilmaz