2001
Tracked objects in orbit, in thousands, 1957-2024


Data on orbiting objects, called “the catalog” by the Defense Department, includes all 31,620 objects larger than a basketball that orbit Earth at speeds nearing 18,000 mph.10 The goal is to prevent disastrous high-speed collisions that can spread debris like killer confetti.
Cumulative nations to reach space, 1957-2024


The pace of nations reaching space has increased rapidly over the past two decades, but the number of active nations has stayed largely consistent over the past four years.
New nations in space, 1957-2024


SmallSats are allowing more nations to reach space for the first time, but their short lifespan means that there has also been an increase in the number of nations leaving orbit over the past years. By the end of 2024, 92 nations were active in space.
Humans reaching space, 2000-2024


By Sept. 15, 70 people had flown their first mission to space aboard private sector flights, including 15 since January, according to Space Foundation records. Private-sector astronauts account for nearly 12 percent of all humans to fly to space.
Cumulative spacecraft on orbit, 1957-2023


Federal agencies in 2014 estimated by 2022 as many as 43 commercial satellites a year would head to orbit. Instead, more than 50 times . . .
NASA share of U.S. federal budget, 1959-2025


The overall Pentagon budget proposal for 2025 is $850 billion, $8 billion more than its 2024 request.
Cumulative human spaceflight, 1961–March 18, 2024


Human spaceflight activity is off to a rapid pace in 2024 with a private Axiom mission, a public ISS mission, and a private Virgin Galactic mission taking flight in the first nine weeks of the year.
Launch Attempts and Deployed Payloads, 1983-2022


Two items stand out as primary examples of astronomers’ concerns: the SpaceX Starlink constellation due to its number of satellites and AST SpaceMobile’s BlueWalker 3 satellite due to its size — 693 square feet6 — which ranks as the largest commercial communications array in space.
Orbital Launch Attempts, 1957-2023


The number of U.S. launch at- tempts climbed from 87 in 2022 to 116 last year. The number of U.S. launches has more than doubled since 2021, which saw 51 launch attempts.
Leap Second Adjustments to UTC, Navigation Satellites, 1972-2023


But every technological leap in clock accuracy can’t overcome the wobbly planet’s ability to throw off timing standards. Using leap seconds, the International Bureau of Weights and Measures has changed clocks to match the astronomical time on Earth 27 times.