The race to orbit

Data from GCAT (J. McDowell, planet4589.org/space/gcat), CC BY 4.0. Counts computed by data.here. "Listed as active" means GCAT's current catalog marks the payload as currently active. GCAT says it updates that status infrequently and that it is often a guess for satellites that do not actively maneuver, so the count is not an exact census. GCAT's separate Active Catalog also includes some payloads this count leaves out, such as the Hubble Space Telescope. Satellites with joint owners are counted under All other owners. Launches are orbital and deep space attempts, failures included, without pad accidents or flights GCAT codes as near-orbital. SpaceX's launches include the Starship test flights GCAT codes as orbital. Yearly launch bars cover the same dates of each year, so they can be lower than full-year totals. Countries are those of the launching organization, not the launch site. Dates are UTC.