Assignment 3: The Rise of Mega-Constellations and Congestion

• This past decade there has been a surge in satellite launches, driven by private mega-constellations such as Starlink, OneWeb, and Amazon Kuiper.

• These satellite networks are reshaping the formation and utilization of Low, Medium, and Geostationary Earth Orbits.

• This rapid occupation of orbital zones has intensified long-term concerns about congestion, debris accumulation, and the growing probability of collisions that could threaten the lifeblood of space operations.

Goal: To visualize how satellite expansion is reshaping orbital environments and to explore the emerging risks to long-term orbital safety and stability.

• This surge reflects the shift from limited, government-led missions to mass production and deployment by private companies. The pattern shows a new phase of orbital expansion where the total number of satellites is becoming unsustainable.

• This rapid expansion has fundamentally changed the structure of Earth’s orbital environment. As thousands of new satellites crowd the same orbital shells, space is shifting from vast and empty to dense and congested.

This next visualisation will highlight this problem

• The majority of all active satellites are concentrated within Low Earth Orbit (LEO), creating the most crowded region of space. This high density increases the potential for interference and congestion, as thousands of satellites operate within the same limited orbital zone.

• Space isn’t just filled with satellites, it’s also littered with debris. Decades of launches, collisions, and discarded rocket stages have left behind thousands of uncontrolled fragments orbiting Earth.

• Early space missions rarely considered long-term sustainability. Defunct spacecraft, upper stages, and even tools lost during missions remain in orbit for years or centuries, adding to an ever-growing debris population.

• The space debris graph reveals that most orbital debris is concentrated in the same regions as active satellites, (within Low Earth Orbit).

• This overlap shows how the increase in satellites, combined with decades of accumulated debris, has created lasting congestion in Earth’s orbits. The volume of active and inactive objects now threatens the stability and sustainability of future space operations.

• To stop this issue, effective debris mitigation, active removal, and international coordination are becoming essential to preserve safe and sustainable access to orbit for future generations

The database details the objects orbital parameters including their launch date, country of origin and classification

Data Retrieved from Space-Track.org required an account to collect the data

1. United States Space Command. (n.d.). Space-Track.org. Retrieved October 13, 2025, https://www.space-track.org/

2. United States Space Command. (n.d.). Basic Space Data query: gp class, epoch > now – 30, orderby NORAD_CAT_ID,EPOCH, format 3LE. Space-Track.org. Retrieved October 13, 2025, https://www.space-track.org/basicspacedata/query/class/gp/EPOCH/%3Enow-30/orderby/NORAD_CAT_ID,EPOCH/format/3le

3. European Space Agency. (2025). ESA space environment report 2025. European Space Agency. https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Space_Debris/ESA_Space_Environment_Report_2025