What's the Difference?

Orbit Styles

Most satellites fall into the low Earth orbit (LEO) category. This orbit pattern is ideal for Earth-focused operations as they fly much closer than the other orbiters.

Sun synchronous satellites rotate are often used for communications, weather forecasting, and ground observation.

Polar satellites are used for imagery, earth-mapping, and global security operations.

  • LEO: 41%
  • Sun Synchronous: 47%
  • Polar: 20%

Use Cases

The main categories that most share are communications, earth observation, and technology development.

The top three countries account for a visibly larger portion of all satellites, with larger representative distributions in each category. Within the top three, the United States and Russia appear to prioritize communications, while China invests more in Earth Observation satellites.

  • Communications: 50%
  • Earth Observation: 25%
  • Tech Dev: 11%

Launch Sites

The number of launch sites maintained by a country can also show prevalence amongst competitors.

Only 11% of countries listed in the data set had a launch site. Of the cohort, the United States has the most launch sites and is tied with Kazakhstan for most satellites launched from a single site.

  • United States: 5
  • Russia: 4
  • China: 3