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How many satellites are in geostationary orbit?

As of October 17, 2026, 575 active satellites are in geosynchronous orbit about 36,000 km up, 3% of all active satellites. 324 of them sit in the stationary belt above the equator, where a satellite stays over one spot on Earth. The median satellite is 11 years old.

575

Active in geosynchronous orbit

324

In the stationary belt

11 years

Median age

Twenty years old or more

The insignia of NOAA's GOES-U weather satellite in front of the satellite in a clean room — The mission insignia of NOAA's GOES-U geostationary weather satellite in front of the satellite on January 24, 2024, before its launch. Photo: NASA/Ben Smegelsky.

The types of geosynchronous orbit

A geosynchronous satellite takes about one day to orbit. Only the ones that stay on the equator and do not drift are truly stationary.

Stationary324 (56.3%)
Drifting123 (21.4%)
Inclined56 (9.7%)
Near synchronous25 (4.3%)
Synchronous25 (4.3%)
Inclined drift22 (3.8%)

Who owns them

United States owns 198 of them and China owns 101.

United States198 (34.4%)
China101 (17.6%)
India33 (5.7%)
Russia31 (5.4%)
Japan27 (4.7%)
United Kingdom24 (4.2%)
France17 (3.0%)
L13 (2.3%)

What they do

Communications392 (68.2%)
Navigation32 (5.6%)
Technology demonstration29 (5.0%)
Weather26 (4.5%)
Early warning14 (2.4%)

When they were launched

The oldest active geosynchronous satellite was launched in 1978. 73 are twenty years old or more, and 129 are less than five.

Active geosynchronous satellites by the year they were launched.

Sources and method

GCAT by Jonathan McDowell, CC BY 4.0. Updated October 17, 2026. Data from GCAT (J. McDowell, planet4589.org/space/gcat).
Geosynchronous satellites are those whose GCAT operational orbit starts with GEO. Active means working or possibly still transmitting, which GCAT says is often a guess. Orbit types follow GCAT's definitions.