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15 Countries with the Highest Number of Military Satellites in Orbit

Ashar Jawad
8 min read

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In this article, we look at the 15 countries with the highest number of military satellites in orbit. You can skip our detailed analysis on space technology and American dominance in this field by heading over directly to the 5 Countries with the Highest Number of Military Satellites in Orbit.

Space exploration has been a key area of interest for scientific research. However, in recent decades, it has become a hot topic for defense experts around the world. Satellites have increasingly begun being used for peaceful military purposes, such as navigation, intelligence gathering, and military communications.

During the peak of the Cold War, both the U.S. and Soviet Union had come close to developing satellites that were equipped with weapons capable of striking targets on the surface of the Earth. However, all efforts were put to a halt after the adoption of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty under the auspices of the United Nations that bans countries from non-peaceful activities in space, including stationing weapons of mass destruction.

American Space Dominance

The United States is the most advanced country in space technology and is the pioneer in the field of military satellites as well, having first initiated a satellite program called Weapon System 117L for photographic reconnaissance way back in the 1950s. It had multiple sub-programs, including Corona, whose missions were known as Discoverer.

The satellite program launched into orbit would capture high resolution pictures of specific areas, of both land and sea, and then enter the atmosphere of the Earth and release a payload containing all the photographs that the mission captured. There were at least 38 public launches of Discoverer, which enabled the U.S. to make several technological breakthroughs in space. It was the world’s first polar orbiting satellite, and also the first to be maneuvered from Earth. SAMOS was another prominent space program that evolved from WS 117L and served to collect photographic and electromagnetic reconnaissance data.

The U.S. today dominates the space. Home-based aerospace and armament manufacturing companies in the defense industry have played a vital role in ensuring this.

SBIRS, short for Space Based-Infrared System, has provided the United States capabilities even in missile defense and missile warnings. It is one of the nation’s top priority space programs. Last year in August, Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) launched its sixth and final missile warning satellite as part of the SBIRS program. Its newest systems, the GEO-5 and GEO-6, are capable of providing missile warning and surveillance. These are built on Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT)’s modernized LM 2100 Combat Bus.

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