The U.S. accounts for the bulk of the objects now being launched into orbit, most of which are small commercial satellites. U.S. aerospace firm SpaceX operates a \u201cconstellation\u201d of more than 9,000 Starlink satellites, which supply high-speed internet access to users below. The Starlink constellation accounts for most of the active satellites now circling the Earth.<\/p>\n
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Source: U.N. Office for Outer Space Affairs via Our World in Data. Yale Environment 360 \/ Made with Flourish<\/p>\n
Orbiting satellites are already leaving streaks<\/a> on photos taken by terrestrial telescopes, and soon they could obscure imagery from the Hubble Space Telescope and other orbiting observatories, a recent study<\/a> found. Scientists say that the swarms of satellites overhead will impede research and may obscure views of asteroids headed for Earth.<\/p>\n Researchers are also increasingly concerned about emissions from rocket launches and from payloads burning up as they fall back to Earth. \u201cBoth of these processes are producing pollutants that are being injected into just about every layer of the atmosphere,\u201d Eloise Marais, an atmospheric scientist at University College London, recently told Yale Environment 360<\/a>.<\/p>\n There are now roughly 12,000 active satellites overhead, up from just 1,200 a decade ago, according to data<\/a> gathered by Harvard astronomer Jonathan MacDowell. By 2040, he told e360, there may be more than 100,000 active satellites orbiting the planet.<\/p>\n ALSO ON YALE E360<\/p>\n