How many satellites still work?
16,351 objects carry a source-backed status that says they still function.
Catalog as of 2026-08-15 12:30 UTC · page generated 2026-08-22
The catalog has not refreshed in over 48 hours, so this figure is older than it should be.
The breakdown
Objects
- Operational15,823
- Partially operational490
- Decayed187
- Non-operational23
- Standby23
- Extended mission9
- Spare6
- Unknown3
The headline adds the statuses that assert a working object. Decayed, non-operational and unknown rows are listed here but are not counted in it.
What this number is not
- This is the single easiest number in the field to get wrong. The main launch catalog’s status field is a phase code: its value "O" means "still in orbit", not "operational". Reading it as operational once marked 15,697 of these objects as working spacecraft.
- Where no source states a status, this catalog says unknown rather than guessing, and those objects are not in this figure. It is a floor, not a total.
- A stated status is only as fresh as the source that stated it. A satellite that quietly stopped working can still be published as operational for a long time afterwards.
How it is computed, and how it is checked
Objects whose operational status came from a source that publishes it, rather than being inferred from the fact that they are still up there, counted where that status asserts a functioning object: operational, partially operational, extended mission, standby and in-orbit spare.
The grouping runs here, in one pass over every matching row, so there is no second route to this figure that a page render can afford. What is checked is that the read was complete: Postgres counts the matching rows itself, and that is compared against the number of rows actually read. A truncated or capped read withholds the figure. The headline is not independently recomputed, and the page does not claim it is.
Read check today: Postgres counts 16,564 matching rows, and 16,564 were read and grouped here, so nothing was dropped or truncated. The headline itself is not recomputed by a second route.
Where the underlying data comes from is on the methodology page, field by field on sources.
Cite this
OrbitalWiki (2026). How many satellites still work? Retrieved 2026-08-22 from https://www.orbitalwiki.com/statistics/how-many-satellites-are-still-workingThe retrieval date matters: this number changes every six hours.