{
  "meta": {
    "key": "active_satellites",
    "title": "Active Satellites in Orbit",
    "unit": "satellites",
    "category": "Space",
    "source": "Jonathan McDowell’s General Catalog (GCAT)",
    "sourceUrl": "https://planet4589.org/space/gcat/tsv/derived/active.tsv",
    "verified": "2026-09-06",
    "url": "https://exponentialtracker.com/curve/active_satellites",
    "csv": "https://exponentialtracker.com/data/active_satellites.csv",
    "json": "https://exponentialtracker.com/data/active_satellites.json",
    "retrievedFrom": "Compiled by Exponential Tracker and re-derived from the source named above. Rebuilt on every deploy, so re-fetch rather than trusting a saved copy to be current.",
    "rights": "The underlying data belongs to Jonathan McDowell’s General Catalog (GCAT). This compilation may be reused with attribution to Exponential Tracker. No licence is claimed or implied over the source data.",
    "citation": "Exponential Tracker, \"Active Satellites in Orbit\", exponentialtracker.com/curve/active_satellites, data verified 2026-09-06. Underlying source: Jonathan McDowell’s General Catalog (GCAT)."
  },
  "data": [
    {
      "year": 1960.99,
      "value": 5
    },
    {
      "year": 1970.99,
      "value": 160
    },
    {
      "year": 1980.99,
      "value": 308
    },
    {
      "year": 1990.99,
      "value": 473
    },
    {
      "year": 2000.99,
      "value": 793
    },
    {
      "year": 2010.99,
      "value": 1029
    },
    {
      "year": 2015.99,
      "value": 1443
    },
    {
      "year": 2018.99,
      "value": 2199
    },
    {
      "year": 2019.99,
      "value": 2315,
      "label": "First Starlink batch"
    },
    {
      "year": 2020.99,
      "value": 3284
    },
    {
      "year": 2021.99,
      "value": 4786
    },
    {
      "year": 2022.99,
      "value": 6761
    },
    {
      "year": 2023.99,
      "value": 9022
    },
    {
      "year": 2024.99,
      "value": 10646
    },
    {
      "year": 2025.99,
      "value": 14113,
      "label": "Starlink dominates"
    },
    {
      "year": 2026.67,
      "value": 16787,
      "label": "16,787 active, Starlink 66% (McDowell)"
    }
  ]
}