Starlink fleet size in a spectrum-policy argument on the space economy
SpaceX has over 9000 LEOs in orbit
Third-party citations
Cited By
Where Orbital Radar data has been used as a source by newsrooms, institutions, investment researchers and academics. Every entry below links to its source.
230+
Verified citations
181
Listed below
140
Link to us directly
170
Distinct sources
55
Pages cited
Last updated . New citations are added as they are verified, so this date moves only when the list itself changes.
As of , more than 230 published works have been verified as citing Orbital Radar as a data source. The 181 listed below come from 170 distinct sources, and 140 of them link directly to an Orbital Radar page. Orbital Radar is an independent satellite-tracking and space-data platform. The references collected here were found in published work by others: they are not partnerships, placements or paid coverage. Each card shows what was cited and, where the source links to us, which page it points to.
Selected sources
The data behind the coverage
Institutions, policy & defence research 19
Think tanks, agencies, standards bodies and professional-services research that use Orbital Radar as a reference source.
Chinese constellation build-out, cited in the figure source line and endnotes
SpaceNews; China-in-space; Orbital Radar (2024–2026)
What Is a Molniya Orbit?, cited in a formal research bibliography
Commercial Space Stations, cited in a formal research bibliography
CAPELLA-19 (ACADIA), used as a formal spacecraft-record reference
Orbital Radar, CAPELLA-19 (ACADIA)
BRO-22 (Unseenlabs), used as a formal spacecraft-record reference
Amazon Leo constellation size in telecom-industry analysis of African LEO partnerships
China's Satellite Internet: Guowang & Qianfan, listed as reference 21 in the COSMOS 2026 report
Government Space Budgets by Country, cited in a regional strategic analysis
[10] ‘Government Space Budgets by Country,’ Orbital Radar, July 05, 2026
Starlink's active-satellite count in analysis of sovereign LEO communications
Chart of current and planned mega-constellations, credited beneath the figure
Sources: Orbital Radar(orbitalradar.com)
Satellites in orbit, cited in a global-affairs strategy playbook
LEO regulatory context in US broadband-policy analysis
Active satellites by operator, the explicit source for a published figure
Satellite altitude-raising, cited in a law firm's space-cybersecurity analysis
Commercial-actor growth in satellite-defence analysis
Space-deterrence essay in a university-alliance series
An individual satellite record plus the Guowang and Qianfan tracker
Amazon Leo tracker used in APAC LEO market intelligence
Orbital Radar tracker for Amazon Leo, Apr 2026
Major media & press 66
National and international newsrooms that name or link Orbital Radar as the source for orbital figures.
Starlink's share of active commercial satellites
The $626bn space economy, deep-linked from BBC Future's long-form science strand
The stakes are high; a $626bn (£479bn) space economy could be at risk
Satellite-population context in reporting on orbital congestion and debris removal
Satellites in orbit and the active Starlink count
According to Orbital Radar, there are currently 17,501 satellites orbiting Earth
Falcon 9 upper-stage orbital history, linked to the individual object record
The near-Earth object catalogue, deep-linked in meteorite science reporting
our catalogs of Near-Earth Objects, which include more than 40,000 space rocks
17,500 active satellites, named in text, deep-linked, and credited on the figure
I nuläget finns det drygt 17 500 aktiva satelliter som kretsar runt jorden, enligt tjänsten Orbital Radar.
SpaceX's ~69% share of all active satellites
SpaceX accounts for about 69% of all active satellites, according to the tracking website Orbital Radar
Active satellites and debris in a flagship business feature
At the end of August about 18,700 active satellites were orbiting Earth, according to Orbital Radar, an open space intelligence platform providing real-time tracking of satellites.
Live tracked-object and active-payload counts
Orbital Radar, a commercial tracking platform, listed 28,871 tracked objects in Earth orbit
Active Starlink satellite count
Launch Cost Trends, deep-linked in the falling-launch-costs section
Active Starlink fleet size in investor-facing debris-risk coverage
nearly 11,000 active Starlink satellites, according to Orbital Radar
Named and deep-linked in reporting on the Falcon 9 lunar impact
Og ifølge Orbital Radar er der i øjeblikket 29.181 objekter i rummet. Det dækker over 18.512 aktive satellitter, 8.778 affaldsfragmenter og 1.891 »raketlig«
Orbital Radar analysis quoted and deep-linked to the Resurs-P1 breakup record
Active satellites in low Earth orbit, named and linked in national reporting
Volgens trackingwebsite Orbitalradar vliegen er bijna dertienduizend actieve satellieten in de zogenoemde Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
Exact Starlink count, attributed in text and reproduced as a credited chart
Exakt 9.352 Starlink-Satelliten sind Ende Juni aktiv, misst Orbital Radar
Feature on the space-insurance market substantively built on Orbital Radar’s space-insurance research, with THREE live deep links…
Según Orbital Radar, este mercado genera entre 500 y 600 millones en primas anuales y sigue concentrado en Londres, París y Bermudas
Historic launch counts, the first citation of the Launch Database
Country-by-country tracked space-debris counts
Data from Orbital Radar, as of August 3, 2026, shows which countries are linked to the highest number of tracked debris objects in space
Satellites by country in business-daily reporting
While there are about 11,600 US satellites in space, there are more than 1,000 Chinese satellites, much more than Russia, which operates about 220, or Israel, which has 25, according to ‘Orbital Radar.’
Country-level satellite counts in a science feature on space independence
Les États-Unis possèdent 11 100 d’entre eux, selon Orbital Radar
Interview-based feature on the space-debris-removal market
Secondo il sito di mappatura Orbital Radar, sono oltre 29 mila i grandi oggetti spaziali tracciabili
Global space-economy value and commercial-sector share
According to Orbital Radar and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
SpaceX LEO constellation count and Chinese LEO totals in launch-cadence reporting
Segundo o site Orbital Radar, a SpaceX detém...
Vanguard 1 and long-duration orbital objects
Active payload count in an explainer on orbit types
According to Orbital Radar, a platform that tracks bodies in the Earth’s orbit in real time, there are 15,562 active payloads
The astronaut directory, cited for how many people have flown in space
According to the astronaut directory of the site Orbital Radar, which tracks all things space-related, more than 580 people have flown in space, and approximately 90 have been women.
Planet Labs fleet size in defence and surveillance analysis
28 Aug 2026 partial lunar eclipse page as formal reference [3] alongside NASA, Space.com and Star Walk for eclipse timing…
Kessler Syndrome, deep-linked from a national newspaper column
Three touchpoints in an academic-format (ABNT) column on rare-earth and critical-mineral demand across SpaceX’s…
Named an independent SSA monitor, with a predicted conjunction attributed to Orbital Radar
Independent SSA monitor
Share of the world's active satellites built in the Seattle region
Spanish edition of the major Gizmodo technology-media brand; named author with a byline history at the outlet (owner-eyes read at…
Satellite figures deep-linked in reporting on SpaceX hiring
Satellite-technology overview for the mechanical-engineering trade audience
Original reporting on the SpaceX $100B Louisiana spaceport announcement states "Starlink now controls the majority of all…
Satellites in orbit, cited in technology-sector reporting
Starlink and Amazon Leo compared for in-flight connectivity
LEO-oversaturation and Kessler-risk analysis
(Orbital Radar: launch schedule, Orbital Radar: satellite count)
Space-traffic-management explainer with two in-text citation links: the statement that NORAD’s catalog reached its 99,999-object…
Satellite reusability, cited in specialist space media
Abandoned satellites and orbital debris in a popular-science explainer
Guowang deployment analysis in substantive discussion of Chinese constellation architecture and scale-up
LEO latency figures in consumer satellite-broadband coverage
Starship and Starlink V3 launch coverage
Falcon 9 reusability and Block 5 flight counts
Starlink V2 Mini deployment counts
Amazon Leo deployment and operational counts in a UK connectivity story
The Kosmos 2546 live tracker, linked as the way to follow the satellite
En este enlace se puede seguir la trayectoria del Kosmos 2546.
The Soyuz launch database, used for operator and launch context
Private space investment, deep-linked in commentary on the SpaceX IPO
Growth from fewer than 1,000 to more than 17,000 satellites
The $626bn space economy and a trillion-dollar forecast for the 2040s
real-time satellite tracking platform Orbital Radar
Active Starlink constellation above 10,400 satellites
trackers like Orbital Radar
Space-tourism mission log, deep-linked in Turkish technology media
According to Orbital Radar data, the total number of active satellites is 18,172
Debris environment around the altitude of the 2029 Apophis flyby
In-text data attribution in a Leadership cover feature on analog astronaut Eleonore Poli: “Laut Orbital Radar erreichte die Space…
Laut Orbital Radar erreichte die Space Economy 2025 ein Volumen von 626 Mrd. US-$
In-text data attribution for country-level satellite counts in space-weapons reporting
Il Paese dispone di circa 25 satelliti, contro gli oltre 11.600 attribuiti agli Stati Uniti, più di mille alla Cina e circa 220 alla Russia, secondo Orbital Radar
Tracked-object and active-satellite counts, named in text
OrbitalRadar shows about 30,000 trackable objects currently around Earth, of which about 18,500 are operating satellites
Active-payload count framing a ranked analysis of LEO operators
Satellite visibility timing, quoted directly in night-sky coverage
Right after sunset or just before sunrise, people on the ground are in darkness, but satellites high overhead are still in direct sunlight.
Staff-bylined coverage of Amazon Leo’s deployment progress
according to satellite-tracking organisation Orbital Radar’s analysis, Amazon needs at least 578 satellites to launch phase-one limited service
Live tracking screenshots credited in an expert astronomy episode
Screenshot from orbitalradar.com
Official episode/show notes explicitly display screenshots from orbitalradar.com while discussing Starlink, orbital crowding and…
Screenshot from orbitalradar.com
Investment & financial research 43
Asset managers, banks, index providers, ETFs and investor-facing analysts citing Orbital Radar market and launch-economics data.
Orbital-debris environment and Kessler risk, in the formal reference set of first-party index research
Satellites by country and Kessler Syndrome, two deep links in one episode
The US now has a lot more satellites than everyone else combined
Active satellites operating in low Earth orbit
Nearly 13,000 active satellites are already operating there, according to orbitalradar.com.
Launch-cost research cited among the sources for a space-economy investment thesis
How much does it cost to launch a rocket, Orbital Radar, May 2026
Falling launch costs, deep-linked inside compliance-wrapped fund material
It has driven rocket launch costs down dramatically
How Much Does It Cost to Launch a Rocket?, cited in mid-year thematic research
“How Much Does It Cost to Launch a Rocket?,” Orbital Radar, visited August 2, 2026.
Launch Costs Are Declining Rapidly, the credited source on a research chart
Source: Orbital Radar, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Global Investment Office as of June 10, 2026.
The ~17,000-satellite figure, named on the record in the published conference transcript
I think that number, is this from orbitalradar.com? It's more like 17,000 satellites in space right now
Two Starlink tracker charts reproduced with source credit in a Teledyne investment thesis
Source: Orbital Radar.
Commercial share of the global space economy, formal source 2
Source: Orbital Radar.
Launch Cost Trends, cited in a footnote on reusable-rocket economics
Space-economy size and launch economics, two datasets in one article
Falcon 9 pricing and cost per kilogram, in a 132-page space-infrastructure market report
Commercial and government split of the global space economy
More than 18,000 satellites operated by roughly 80 countries, cited as source 1
Today, one source estimates there are over 18,000 satellites operated by roughly 80 countries.
Global space economy plus SpaceX and Starlink scale figures
Historical launch cost per kilogram, the credited data basis of Figure 1
Quelle: Orbital Radar, LBBW Research
Launch-cost page to support Starship’s sub-$100/kg design target and explicitly references Orbital Radar and other launch-cost…
Chart of largest space companies by revenue, credited to Orbital Radar
Roughly 12,000 active LEO satellites, deep-linked in an investigative analysis
De meeste van de circa 12.000 satellieten die nu actief in een lage aardbaan vliegen, zijn van SpaceX
Starship reusable architecture, deep-linked in investor-facing editorial
Commercial Space Stations 2026 research as formal source 16 and uses it in the Orbital Reef section
Orbital Radar, Commercial Space Stations 2026 (26.07.2026)
Launch Cost Trends listed in formal research disclosures
Guowang/Qianfan tracker for the current scale and planned expansion of China’s LEO mega-constellations in analysis of…
Essay on the privatisation of orbit
SpaceNews / Orbital Radar, China’s Guowang and Qianfan: 28,000+ planned, 350+ launched by mid-2026
Space Economy 2026 research in the source set used to map 86 companies across 11 space-industry subsectors
Commercial Space Stations 2026 page as a core source for analysis of Vast, Axiom, Orbital Reef and Starlab, describing it as the…
Launch-cost analysis as an explicit model input for Falcon 9 and projected Starship cost-per-kilogram assumptions in a…
Starship, deep-linked in a contributor valuation thesis on SpaceX
Starlink/space-economy figures are used in an investor-oriented weekly funding and market briefing
An investor-facing release about collision-avoidance optics, states that Orbital Radar projects tracked debris is only the tip of…
SpaceX share of active satellites, deep-linked on the figure
SpaceX accounts for nearly 70%
Operator, satellite mass and altitude figures, deep-linked five times
SpaceX launch share, co-credited with BryceTech in a corporate-finance newsletter
according to BryceTech/OrbitalRadar
Government space-budget data for U.S., Europe/France, Japan and India figures; its methodology names Orbital Radar’s government…
Data in market-facing coverage of space-sector developments
the Space Foundation (Q2 2025 report) and industry data from OrbitalRadar.com
Two named in-text data attributions in a US-space-sector investor explainer: “In 2025, BryceTech counted 325 orbital launches ……
In 2025, BryceTech counted 325 orbital launches … with a rocket lifting off roughly every 28 hours, as per OrbitalRadar’s Space Economy Report
Attributes the global space-economy size, commercial-sector share and trillion-dollar forecast to OrbitalRadar.com in an investor…
The trillion-dollar space-economy trajectory, attributed in the editorial
secondo Orbital Radar, di toccare il trilione entro pochi anni
Starlink subscriber numbers in a two-author vertical-integration thesis
more than 4 million paying subscribers
Explicitly attributes Falcon 9 booster-turnaround data to Orbital Radar’s launch-cost database while analysing SpaceX’s…
Article’s Sources bibliography lists "Orbital Radar, ‘Launch Cost Trends,’ July 2026" in its…
Substack
Category: Independent technical / economic infrastructure analysis | Tier 2 supporting
How Orbital Radar is used: The article’s Sources bibliography lists
The Guowang programme, deep-linked in analysis of European military constellations
Academic & scientific research 14
Peer-reviewed papers, doctoral theses, university publications and reference works with formal Orbital Radar citations.
Space Debris Tracking, cited in a doctoral thesis on governance of the commons
Projected satellite growth to 2030 in an academic explainer
up to 60,000 satellites by 2030
Lunar-mission sustainability, cited by three named university academics
Space-archaeology and orbital-environment analysis
według danych z orbitalradar.com i spacereference.org
Launch-cost analysis cited in a published aerospace research paper
How Many Satellites Are in Orbit, reference 43 of 54 in a scholarly bibliography
How Many Satellites Are in Orbit in 2026?[EB/OL]
Satellites in orbit, deep-linked to the live counter
More than 14,000
Global Space Economy in sources and references
Global Space Economy data in research on space law, ESG and accountability
University student satellite team’s live dashboard for its own spacecraft HUNITY-1 links Orbital Radar’s individual satellite…
Cited as a reference on English and French Wikipedia articles
ISS tracker listed and explained in a university astronomy club resource list
The Guowang programme, deep-linked in a military-civil fusion analysis
Source line on a debris-responsibility table, and reference 41 in the bibliography
Industry, technical & specialist analysis 18
Sector analysts, engineering and telecom publications, and specialist space media.
Launch economics, Chinese constellations, Amazon Leo and space-budget methodology
Listed as the source for global space-economy size and forecast growth
Launch Cost Trends analysis to benchmark SpaceX Falcon 9 economics while evaluating Skyroot and India’s private launch market
Chinese LEO broadband constellations, deep-linked to a quoted passage
Orbital Radar, drawing on Novaspace data
Starlink vs Amazon Leo comparison as a research source for discussion of LEO broadband architecture and competition
Short human-written recommendation post presenting Orbital Radar to the French amateur-radio community: “Prévisions de…
Hyperlinked in-text data attribution in a consumer explainer: “There are currently approximately 16,400 to 18,600 active…
There are currently approximately 16,400 to 18,600 active satellites in orbit around the Earth, according to satellite tracking services like Orbital Radar and COMSPOC
Orbital Radar recommended as a satellite-tracking resource
Multiple Orbital Radar resources in a formal Sources & Evidence Base for orbital-congestion and Kessler-risk analysis
Cited across observing guides on satellites, Starlink passes and re-entries
Source 1 of a 16-source list anchoring a market-size analysis
The Global Space Economy 2026: $626B Market Size & $1T Forecast, Orbital Radar (2026-01)
Guowang and Qianfan, cited in footnote 49 of a long-form analysis
Orbital Radar, ‘Guowang & Qianfan, China’s Satellite Internet: 350+ Satellites Launched (2026)’
Starlink count relied on in an engineering blog
Orbital Radar says there aren't even 10,000 Starlink satellites in use today, there are 9,532
Falcon 9 specifications and launch stats, footnote 16 of a policy column
Falcon 9 Specs & Launch Stats（再使用・打ち上げ回数）, Orbital Radar, 2026年
Launch cost per kilogram for Falcon 9 and Starship, a formal source citation
Orbital Radar, Launch cost per kilogram, Falcon 9 and Starship target figures (updated May 2026)
Substantive human-authored science article on spaceflight physiology (NASA Twin Study, JAXA findings) with a formal bibliography
OrbitalRadar Editorial Team. ‘Cost of Space Travel in 2026 | $125,000 to $55 million per seat’. OrbitalRadar. 2026-03
The formal source set for a detailed comparison of Starlink and Amazon Leo constellation scale, architecture and telecom-market…
Navigation constellations, cited in a consumer GPS comparison
En mars 2026, environ 130 satellites GNSS sont actifs en orbite tous systèmes confondus (OrbitalRadar, mars 2026)
Professional & community 21
Named practitioners and domain professionals citing Orbital Radar in public commentary.
Formal reference R2 for OneWeb constellation architecture, fleet size, orbital planes, altitude, manufacturing and comparative…
Space Economy page in a corporate newsletter discussing the $626.4B 2025 space economy, $1T trajectory and roughly 78%…
Orbital Radar and Satellite Eye selected into a practitioner OSINT toolkit
Highlights Orbital Radar’s Satellite Eye for real-time tracking of 30,000+ satellites/debris, imagery search by coordinates/city…
Government Space Budgets, the sourced basis for a US space-metrics table
Formal numbered reference in the article’s source list: “6
Substantive ~15-section analysis of Japan’s J-LEO program (MIC ¥150B subsidy to the Rakuten/AST SpaceMobile consortium)
Links Orbital Radar’s GPS vs GLONASS vs Galileo vs BeiDou comparison as supporting material in analysis of navigation…
The section "Deutlich in Führung", states Washington spent $79.7B on government-funded space programs in 2024 "laut Orbital…
LinkedIn / Strategos
Category: Independent professional / defence-space commentary | Tier 2
How Orbital Radar is used: In the section
Framing that space has shifted from predominantly government activity to predominantly commercial activity, while discussing the…
Attributes a cluster of headline space-economy figures to orbitalradar.com, including market size, commercial-sector share,…
A source for the scale of China’s Guowang and Qianfan constellations in analysis of D2D satellite connectivity, spectrum…
Comparative H3-vs-Falcon 9 launch-cost analysis
Orbital Radar「How Much Does It Cost to Launch a Rocket? (2026)」
Cited in the formal numbered source list of a space-economics newsletter
Data updated May 2026 · Sources: Orbital Radar, Novaspace, SpaceX S-1 filing
Professional investment analysis on Artemis II, SpaceX and the space economy, Pala includes Orbital Radar's Space Economy…
Cited in academic format in the bibliography of a Rocket Lab business analysis
Orbital Radar. (2026). Rocket Lab, Electron, Neutron & Spacecraft Manufacturing
Named in text as the market-research source for debris-removal market size
according to market-research firm Orbital Radar's analysis, the debris-removal market has grown to roughly $1.2bn
Includes Orbital Radar’s Space Debris Map in a resource set covering orbital debris, outer-space governance and sustainability…
Launch Cost Trends, used to support a claim about falling launch costs
Analysis of speed-of-light latency limits on autonomous and mission-critical AI systems (UAVs, sensor fusion, control loops)
OrbitalRadar, ‘Satellite Internet Speeds 2026: Starlink vs GEO Latency’ (LEO vs. GEO round-trip comparison)
The disclosed research source set for analysis of India’s private-space growth, alongside ISRO, IN-SPACe, Novaspace, EY/ISpA,…
About this list. The entries shown are a verified selection drawn from a reconciled research set of 230+ public references, plus international syndication reach. Every entry shown has a live, checkable source URL. The entries were last revised on , and the totals on . Where a source names Orbital Radar in text without a clickable link, it is marked named source rather than counted as a link.
LINKSthe source links to an Orbital Radar page
CITEDOrbital Radar is named as the source in text
Is Orbital Radar a credible source to cite?
Orbital Radar is used as a named data source by national newsrooms, government-adjacent policy institutes, peer-reviewed research and regulated financial firms. Every reference on this page has been checked against the original page, and each card links to that source so the attribution can be verified independently.
Who cites Orbital Radar?
Citing organisations include the BBC, CNN, CNBC, Forbes, Axios, The Times and UPI in media; CSIS, the American Enterprise Institute, KPMG and the European Space Agency's eoPortal among institutions; Morgan Stanley, BlackRock, iShares, Nasdaq, S&P Global and WisdomTree in investment research; and doctoral and peer-reviewed work including HEC Paris and SSRN.
What is Orbital Radar cited for?
Most often for satellite counts and orbital population, operator and country breakdowns, launch-cost trends, the size and commercial share of the space economy, Chinese mega-constellation deployment, space-debris statistics and individual spacecraft records.
How should I cite Orbital Radar?
Cite the specific page and the date you accessed it, because the figures update continuously. For example: Orbital Radar, “How Many Satellites Are in Orbit?”, orbitalradar.com/how-many-satellites-in-orbit, accessed 9 September 2026.
Does Orbital Radar pay for these mentions?
No. There are no paid placements, sponsorships or affiliate arrangements behind any entry on this page. Every reference is independent editorial or research use.
How often is this page updated?
New citations are added as they are verified against the source page. The date shown at the top of this page changes only when the list itself changes, so it reflects the real age of the content rather than the date you happened to load the page.
What happens if a cited source changes or goes offline?
Every reference here is independently archived at the point it is verified, so a citation stays checkable even if the original article is later edited, moved or withdrawn. Captures are held with Perma.cc, the archiving service run by Harvard Law School Library. We do not republish those captures, but if you need the archived record for a particular reference, contact us and we will provide it.
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