Distribution of space debris around Earth

This animation shows active satellites and space debris of different sizes in orbit around Earth as of August 2023.

The information about debris objects smaller than 10 cm is based on a statistical model by ESA.

Number of objects in orbit:

Active satellites: 10 200 objects (blue)

> 10cm: 50 000 objects (red)

> 1 cm: 1.2 million (orange)

> 1 mm: 130 million objects (yellow orange)

> 0.1 mm: 2 000 billion objects (yellow)

Learn more about the status of Earth’s orbits in the 2025 Space Environment Report.