Space raceLuxembourg has 9th most satellites in space - most per capita

While we may be small, we are mighty in space.. The latest data from UCS show that the US leads the way with 830 satellites, followed by China (280), Russia (147), multinational (145), and Luxembourg surprisingly comes in 9th place overall with a relatively whopping 33 satellites in orbit.

This places us in second place in Europe behind only the UK (54 satellites and 6th overall), and just ahead of Germany (29, rank 10th).

Luxembourg beats the other top-contenders when it comes to satellites per capita, however. Looked at this way, it breaks down roughly as below.

1. Luxembourg: 0.000055 satellites per capita (four zeros)
2. The US: 0.0000025 (five zeros)
3. Canada: 0.000001
4. Russia: 0.000001
5. UK: 0.00000081 (six zeros)
6. Japan: 0.00000058
7. Germany: 0.00000035
8. China: 0.0000002
9. India: 0.00000004 (7 zeros)
10. Multinational: n/a (total population unknown)

This certainly bodes well for the US and Luxembourg’s new space cooperation agreement.

Statista have put together a handy chart which shows the top-12 satellite-operating nations.

© Statista

Statista: chart source
Union of Concerned Scientists: UCS Satellite Database