What's Been Happening?

Satellite Type

Communication satellites appear to be a predominantly US investment, with Russia and China beginning to contribute more this catgeory in only the last ten years.

Earth observation has grown in popularity in the last 10-15 years. This is where China shows it's growing dominance, with steeper increases than that of Russia or the US.

Russia doesn't dominate any particular category. It has made significant improvements in Communications and Navigation/Global Positioning. The latter is not an overly popular category with any of the countries, but it may be the closest Russia has to matching the two other countries in a single category.

Industries

The United States has significantly more commercial satellites than any other countries, accounting for 31% overall.

China has 9% of the data set's satellites by government category and it has increased four times over from their first few years.

Russia has the most diverse industrial uses rather than overstacking satellites in any one category.

Launch History

The United States is far and above the other two countries in the late 90's; however, the gap closes over the next two decades.

China was able to overtake the United States in 2010 and 2011, but was unable to sustain the growth over the following years.

Russia outperformed the United States in 2015 as well. They also have a sharper increased trend line than the other two countries and less volatility.