O3b constellation (courtesy of O3b Networks)
We’ve released a new version of the UCS satellite database, which includes launches through August 31, 2013. There are currently 1084 active satellites in the database.
The changes to this version of the database include:
- The addition of 24 satellites to the database.
- The deletion of 11 satellites.
- The addition of and corrections to some satellite data.
An interesting set of satellites was launched this summer. The first four satellites of the O3b constellation were put into orbit in July. The O3b network is meant to provide broadband service everywhere on earth within 45 degrees of latitude north and south of the equator, including remote areas where people currently have limited connectivity to the internet—hence O3b’s name (Other Three Billion). The satellites are alone in their circular orbits at around 8,000 km, a high-radiation environment in the transition between the lower and upper Van Allen radiation belts.