Signal Active satellites quadruple to 13,000 with one operator holding 80%

Summary

Private innovation has cut the cost of placing a satellite in orbit by 65% over ten years. As a result, the number of active satellites jumped from 3,300 in 2020 to 13,000 by October 2025. Commercial launches now account for 90% of payloads, and a single operator, Starlink, holds nearly 80% of active satellites. EY adds that as many as 70,000 more low Earth orbit satellites are expected in large constellations over the next five years. It reads this pace as a sign of how quickly the orbital frontier is being claimed, with governance and competition questions still largely unresolved.