Find Out The Exact Number Of Satellites Orbiting The Earth

You won't believe how many are in Earth's atmosphere, or their potentially devastating consequences. Watch this video to find out! You will be amazed!Show more

Earth’s orbital space is becoming increasingly crowded. An estimated 4,600 man-made satellites are orbiting our planet and per the Union of Concerned Scientists just over 1,700 of them work. Satellite collisions are rare because NASA and other organizations keep track of them. When launched they are placed in an orbit designed to avoid others. Along with the many satellites there’s also a ton of space junk. NASA says there’s more than 500,000 pieces of it orbiting the Earth.

With all this stuff up there, why can’t we see it in the photos of Earth. It is because it is too small to see. Earth is 7,917.5 miles across and satellites can be less than a foot to just a few hundred feet long. The International Space Station, for instance, is 357 feet long. It’s the largest man-made object in the orbit, but it is not visible in wide-angle photos thanks to Earth’s massive scale.

However, size doesn’t matter when it comes to space junk. Most of it is small but can create obstacles or damage to important equipment due to the high velocity. A window on the ISS was chipped by a piece of space junk thought to be just a few thousands of a millimeter across. Can you believe these facts? Have you ever wondered how satellites orbit the Earth? Make sure you find out soon!