How has space got overcrowded?
Pages in this sectionSatellites orbiting the Earth have become an integral part of our everyday lives. We rely on them for GPS, weather forecasts, our mobile phones and online banking. They’ve also transformed many areas of science, helping us study a huge range of things – from animal tracking, to rainforest density, to the patterns and causes of natural disasters.
The benefits of satellites mean the number of them in orbit has rapidly increased over the last 15 years. Most of them are in low Earth orbit, and this is the part of space that is getting particularly overcrowded.
Did you know?
There are nearly 13,000 working satellites orbiting Earth today, and thousands more are launched every year. By 2030, there could be around 60,000 working satellites in Earth’s different orbits.
Unfortunately, it is not only active satellites we need to keep track of. There is also a lot of space debris, or space junk - non-functional, human-made objects. This includes old satellites that no longer work because they’ve run out of fuel or suffered a fault, parts of rockets and other objects left behind in space.
As of November 2026, there are about 57,150 pieces of inactive space debris that are larger than 10cm*, and many millions more that are smaller.
Often, things in low Earth orbit will fall into the Earth’s atmosphere and burn up, but this doesn’t always happen. That means many objects stay in orbit, taking up vital space.
* Statistic updated regularly on this website
Header image credit: ClearSpace UK