1. The out-of-control satellite Galaxy 15 is posing a risk to other nearby communications satellites as it wanders from its former orbit. Left its assigned orbital slot of 133 degrees west.
2. Bermuda-based ABS, which operates six satellites, accumulated its surplus orbital slots through a variety of sources, one being the Moscow-based consortium Intersputnik. In 2014, Intersputnik.
3. Now, the Philippines satellite communication slot in outer space was also taken over by China. China has grabbed and now occupies one of the two Geo-orbital slots in the space that used to belong to the Philippines. That space slot, which is 98 degrees East longitude, is now reportedly occupied by a Chinese military satellite.

SVNs are 'space vehicle numbers' which are serial numbers assigned to each GPS satellite. PRNs are the 'pseudo-random noise' sequences, or Gold codes, that each satellite transmits to differentiate itself from other satellites in the active constellation. Although the allocation of a slot does not come with an ownership right to the areas of outer space, it does grant an operator exclusive rights to the resource for the lifetime of its satellite (usually fifteen years). Typically, the operators then keep refiling for the slot and replace old satellites with new ones.

If you access this 'list of satellites in orbit' page, please help by sending updates and changes to me: Eric Johnston

List below updated 12 October 2020

Who Has Satellites In Space

Total number of active satellites =

535 (12 October 2020) *
534 (26 April 2020) *
517 (12 Dec 2019) *
448 (17 December 2018)
446 (3 Oct 2018)
450 (8 April 2018)
449 (10 Jan 2018)
447 (10 Aug 2017)
443 (11 Feb 2017)
419 (20 November 2015)
427(9 July 2016)
429(16 Aug2016)

* This includes some satellites with an indicated high inclination angle.

Name refers to the official spacecraft designation, 5 digits and one or two letters. Made up as follows: 2 digits=year of launch so 12=2012; next 3 digits= day of year so 061 is 2nd of March, followed by letter(s) so A= is first item off the rocket, B= second item off the rocket, etc. Z= 26th, AB is 27th item off the rocket.

Common name is what companies use to give it an easy (?) to remember name. They are changed from time to time, for example if the satellite leased to a new customer or marketing people think of some new idea.

Space Satellites For Sale

Geo Orbit position is the longitude position around the geostationary orbit. The satellites are all approximately fixed in the sky above the equator. Negative orbit position numbers are degrees West from Greenwich meridian, like Spain, Portugal, Atlantic, West West Africa, Canada, USA, Central and South America. Positive numbers are degrees East, like Central Europe, East Africa, Middle East, Asia, China, Japan and Australia.

Inclination: Some older satellite, whose north-south station-keeping fuel has run out are in inclined orbits. The inclination angle is shown. This means they move north-south across the equatorial plane on a daily basis, by plus or minus the amount shown. Tracking earth station antennas are used to follow these satellites. Example of tracking antenna methods and mechanisms: https://www.s3sat.com/index.php/satsio

If you access this list of satellites in orbit page and find it interesting, please help by sending updates and changes to me Eric Johnston

The above information is derived from 2 line elements using a spreadsheet.

Legacy old listings: