Ich habe die von 1957 bis 2026E jährlich gestarteten Satelliten kartiert, gruppiert nach den USA, Russland/UdSSR, China, dem Rest der Welt und Starlink.

    Die meiste Zeit des Weltraumzeitalters sahen Satellitenstarts wie ein Wettbewerb zwischen nationalen Programmen aus.

    Dann erscheint Starlink im Jahr 2019 und verändert den Maßstab völlig.

    Bis 2026E soll allein Starlink auf den Markt kommen 3.587 Satelliten – mehr als alle anderen Gruppen zusammen in dieser Prognose.

    Bei der Zahl für 2026E handelt es sich um eine Schätzung, die auf Markteinführungen seit Jahresbeginn basiert und unter Berücksichtigung der historischen Saisonalität der Markteinführungen angepasst wurde.

    Von ExaminationOk6652

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    31 Kommentare

    1. ExaminationOk6652 on

      **Source:** GCAT / Jonathan McDowell
      **Data as of:** June 3, 2026
      **Tools:** Python, Adobe Illustrator
      **Method:** Cleaned annual satellite/payload launch data and grouped it by U.S., Russia / USSR, China, Rest of World, and Starlink.
      **Note:** 2026E is projected from year-to-date launches using historical seasonality.

    2. I have a friend that does orbital management for a company and it’s turned to ass in the past couple years because SpaceX has a 51% share in satellites your satellite could collide with, so their laissez-faire approach to conjunctions is the de facto standard everyone else has to work around

      At this point SpaceX has launched more than half of all satellites *ever* in space. 

    3. It would be interesting to see the same chart with mass put in orbit since the Starlink satellites are much smaller than „usual“ satellites and also in much lower orbit.

    4. They are launched in clusters of 20 or more. So 3,000 starlinks are from just 150 launches approximately.  

    5. You forgot Project West Ford – USA launched 400 million in 1963 – that will be the most difficult record to break and will probably never be exceeded.

    6. Absolute insane amount of space trash, for an insane amount of infrastructure relatively few people are using. For tech that isnt useable for the mass anyway, and shouldnt be used by the mass either.

    7. MajesticBread9147 on

      Russia is not the USSR and vice versa.

      The Soviet Union put the first satellite and first person in space.

      Russia today has yet to successfully land a rover on the moon.

    8. aalapshah12297 on

      Ah, a perfectly timed post born completely out of someone’s passion for data visualization that has nothing to do with luring investors for an IPO or anything 👍

    9. GrumpySquirrel2016 on

      Google ‚Kessler Effect‘ and then decide if this is really a good thing.

    10. inb4 10 years from now when: Elon will be begging for a govt handout when we have so much debris and shit in space that it requires a cleanup—and whos gonna cleanup a mess that rich dumb fuks make?

      The taxpayer

    11. Mickmack12345 on

      Starlink, some sort of array of satellites in the sky connecting everyone through the internet. Some sort of Skynet if you will

    12. rockchalkchuck on

      To maintain starlink they have to keep this up…. forever? Seems like a profitable and sustainable model for niche internet service.

    13. smoothie4564 on

      Starlink sattelites are launched in clusters, so one launch equals roughly 20 sattelites. Also it is worth noting that because Starlink sattelites are in a very low altitude orbit each one of them will experience much more atmospheric drag and will disintegrate in roughly 5 years.

      So this is NOT a good comparison.

    14. ExpensiveCase5543 on

      This clearly captures the crazy impact SpaceX has made. Image what the sky will look like in 50 years!

    15. coinstarhiphop on

      Is this a stacked chart or is it not?? You’re mixing the styles of a stacked chart and a regular and that makes the data confusing.

      (eg, in 1980 did the us and ussr launch the same number of satellites or did the us launch ~none?)

    16. 🎶 🎶 What goes up, must come down

      What must rise, must fall

      And what goes on in your life

      Is writing on the wall 🎶🎶 

      By Alan Parsons Project 

    17. I’m just wondering, how is this better than just laying out decent fibre connections?

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