In 2019, fewer than 2,000 active satellites circled Earth as SpaceX began scaling Starlink. Seven years later, 15,711 were orbiting the planet, with Starlink accounting for 65.97% of the working satellites

In just over seven years, the number of working satellites around Earth has changed dramatically. A June 2026 space traffic index counted 15,711 active satellites in orbit, compared with fewer than 2,000 at the beginning of 2019. The biggest change is not only the size of the satellite population, but how heavily it is concentrated. SpaceX's Starlink constellation accounted for 10,365 of those active satellites, or 65.97% of the total, as quoted in a report by Space Daily.

The figures offer a snapshot of how quickly low Earth orbit has shifted toward large commercial constellations.