Wikipedia

Satellite constellation

A satellite constellation is a group of artificial satellites working together as a system. Unlike a single satellite, a constellation can provide permanent global or near-global coverage, such that at any time everywhere on Earth at least one satellite is visible. Satellites are typically placed in sets of complementary orbital planes and connect to globally distributed ground stations. They may also use inter-satellite communication.

The GPS constellation calls for 24 satellites to be distributed equally among six orbital planes. Notice how the number of satellites in view from a given point on the Earth's surface, in this example at 40°N, changes with time.

Other satellite groups

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Satellite constellations should not be confused with:

  • satellite clusters, which are groups of satellites moving very close together in almost identical orbits (see satellite formation flying);
  • satellite series or satellite programs (such as Landsat), which are generations of satellites launched in succession;
  • satellite fleets, which are groups of satellites from the same manufacturer or operator that function independently from each other (not as a system).

Overview

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A bright artificial satellite flare is visible above the Very Large Telescope. Satellite constellations could have an impact on ground-based astronomy.[1]

Satellites in medium Earth orbit (MEO) and low Earth orbit (LEO) are often deployed in satellite constellations, because the coverage area provided by a single satellite only covers a small area that moves as the satellite travels at the high angular velocity needed to maintain its orbit. Many MEO or LEO satellites are needed to maintain continuous coverage over an area. This contrasts with geostationary satellites, where a single satellite, at a much higher altitude and moving at the same angular velocity as the rotation of the Earth's surface, provides permanent coverage over a large area.

For some applications, in particular digital connectivity, the lower altitude of MEO and LEO satellite constellations provide advantages over a geostationary satellite, with lower path losses (reducing power requirements and costs) and latency.[2] The propagation delay for a round-trip internet protocol transmission via a geostationary satellite can be over 600 ms, but as low as 125 ms for a MEO satellite or 30 ms for a LEO system.[3]

Examples of satellite constellations include the Global Positioning System (GPS), Galileo and GLONASS constellations for navigation and geodesy in MEO, the Iridium and Globalstar satellite telephony services and Orbcomm messaging service in LEO, the Disaster Monitoring Constellation and RapidEye for remote sensing in Sun-synchronous LEO, Russian Molniya and Tundra communications constellations in highly elliptic orbit, and satellite broadband constellations, under construction from Starlink and OneWeb in LEO, and operational from O3b in MEO.

Design

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Optimization-based Design

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Designing a satellite constellation (i.e., determining the orbital distribution of its constituents) is a complex problem that typically uses satellite-to-target coverage as the primary figure of merit. Naturally, the resulting constellation depends on the mission requirements and objectives and can be characterized by its geometry. That is, either symmetric or asymmetric constellations.

Symmetric constellations are traditionally proposed for applications that require global coverage (e.g., telecommunications). Notable symmetric constellations proposed in the literature include Walker Delta and Star [4][5], and Rosette[6].

Asymmetric constellations are typically adopted when regional coverage (i.e., the distribution of targets is concentrated around specific locations rather than being globally uniform) is required. Asymmetric constellations are proposed to address disaster monitoring[7], orbital debris remediation[8], and cislunar space domain awareness[9].

Large satellite constellations are evaluated against equivalent power flux density (EPFD) limits to ensure their combined transmissions remain compatible with geostationary satellite services.

The need for optimization in constellation design arises from the large number of degrees of freedom in the design space. For example, the payload characteristics, required temporal coverage resolution (e.g., continuous or discontinuous), targets' distribution, and candidate orbits. Conventional optimization methodologies used for constellation design include:

Walker Constellation

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There are a large number of constellations that may satisfy a particular mission. Usually constellations are designed so that the satellites have similar orbits, eccentricity and inclination so that any perturbations affect each satellite in approximately the same way. In this way, the geometry can be preserved without excessive station-keeping thereby reducing the fuel usage and hence increasing the life of the satellites. Another consideration is that the phasing of each satellite in an orbital plane maintains sufficient separation to avoid collisions or interference at orbit plane intersections.

Walker-Delta Constellation

A class of circular orbit geometries that has become popular is the Walker Delta Pattern constellation. This has an associated notation to describe it which was proposed by John Walker.[19] His notation is:

i: t/p/f

where:

  • i is the inclination;
  • t is the total number of satellites;
  • p is the number of equally spaced planes; and
  • f is the relative spacing between satellites in adjacent planes. The change in true anomaly (in degrees) for equivalent satellites in neighbouring planes is equal to f × 360 / t.

For example, the Galileo navigation system is a Walker Delta 56°: 24/3/1 constellation. This means there are 24 satellites in 3 planes inclined at 56 degrees, spanning the 360 degrees around the equator. The "1" defines the phasing between the planes, and how they are spaced. The Walker Delta is also known as the Ballard rosette, after A. H. Ballard's similar earlier work.[6][20] Ballard's notation is (t,p,m) where m is a multiple of the fractional offset between planes.

Walker-Star Constellation

Another popular constellation type is the near-polar Walker Star, which is used by Iridium. Here, the satellites are in near-polar circular orbits across approximately 180 degrees, travelling north on one side of the Earth, and south on the other. The active satellites in the full Iridium constellation form a Walker Star of 86.4°: 66/6/2, i.e. the phasing repeats every two planes. Walker uses similar notation for stars and deltas, which can be confusing.

These sets of circular orbits at constant altitude are sometimes referred to as orbital shells.

Orbital shell

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In spaceflight, an orbital shell is a set of artificial satellites in circular orbits at a certain fixed altitude.[21] In the design of satellite constellations, an orbital shell usually refers to a collection of circular orbits with the same altitude and, oftentimes, orbital inclination, distributed evenly in celestial longitude (and mean anomaly).[citation needed] For a sufficiently high inclination and altitude the orbital shell covers the entire orbited body. In other cases the coverage extends up to a certain maximum latitude.[citation needed]

Several existing satellite constellations typically use a single orbital shell. New large megaconstellations have been proposed that consist of multiple orbital shells.[21][22]

List of satellite constellations

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Satellite constellations used for navigation
Name Operator Satellites and orbits
(latest design, excluding spares)		 Coverage Services Status Years in service
Global Positioning System (GPS) USSF (US) 24 in 6 planes at 20,180 km (55° MEO) No expansion planned as of June 2026. Global Navigation Operational 1993–present
GLONASS Roscosmos (Russia) 24 in 3 planes at 19,130 km (64°8' MEO) No expansion planned as of June 2026. Global Navigation Operational 1995–present
Galileo EUSPA, ESA (EU) 26 in 3 planes at 23,222 km (56° MEO) [23] No expansion planned as of June 2026. Global Navigation Operational 2019–present
BeiDou CNSA (CN)
  • 5 geostationary at 35,786 km (GEO)
  • 3 in 3 planes at 35,786 km (55° GSO)
  • 27 in 3 planes at 21,150 km (55° MEO)
  • [24]
  • No expansion planned as of June 2026.
 Global Navigation Operational
  • 2012–present, Asia
  • 2018–present, globally
NAVIC ISRO (India)
  • 3 geostationary at 35,786 km (GEO)
  • 5 in 2 planes at 250–24,000 km (29° GSO)
  • Total number of satellites planned : 12 [25]
 Regional Navigation Operational 2018–present
QZSS JAXA (JPN)
  • 1 geostationary at 35,786 km (GEO)
  • 3 in 3 planes at 32,600–39,000 (43° GSO)
  • Total of seven satellites with minimum 4 always in operation [26]
 Regional Navigation Operational 2018–present
Pulsar Xona Space systems (US) 1 in LEO . A total of 258 are planned [27] global[27] PNT navigation[27] operational 2025-present[27]
Trsutpoint Trustpoint (US) 0 in LEO as of June 2026. A total up to 300 is planned.[28] global PNT navigation[28] PLANNED[28] 2027[28]
PNT-LEO ArkEdge Space(JPN)/ JAXA (JPN)[29] 0 in LEO as of June 2026. Unknown total planned. TBD PNT[29] PLANNED[29] TBD

Communications satellite constellations

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Broadcasting

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Monitoring

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Internet access

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Operational communications satellite constellations
Name Operator Constellation design Coverage Freq. Services
Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) Inmarsat (UK) 4 geostationary satellites [30] No expansion planned as of June 2026. 82°S to 82°N Internet access
Global Xpress (GX) Inmarsat (UK) 8 Geostationary satellites

A total of 13 satellites are planned for this constellation[31][32][33]

 Ka band Internet access
Globalstar Globalstar (US)(soon Amazon) 48 at 1400 km, 52° (8 planes)[34] No expansion planned as of June 2026. 70°S to 70°N[34] Internet access, satellite telephony
Iridium Iridium Communications (US) 66 at 780 km, 86.4° (6 planes) No expansion planned as of June 2026. Global
Internet access, satellite telephony
O3b SES (Lux) 20 at 8,062 km, 0° (circular equatorial orbit) 45°S to 45°N Ka band Internet access
O3b mPOWER SES (Lux) 10 at 8,062 km, 0° (circular equatorial orbit)
3 more to be launched by end 2026[35][36][37]		 45°S to 45°N Ka (26.5–40 GHz) Internet access
Orbcomm ORBCOMM (US) 17 at 750 km, 52° (OG2) 65°S to 65°N IoT and M2M, AIS
Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) 4th Space Operations Squadron Military communications
Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) 4th Space Operations Squadron (US) 10 geostationary satellites

With a total of 12 satellites planned [38][39]

 Military communications
ViaSat Viasat, Inc. (US) 4 geostationary satellites. No expansion planned as of June 2026. Varying Internet access
Eutelsat Eutelsat (FR) 31 geostationary satellites [40] No expansion planned as of June 2026. Commercial
Thuraya Space42(UAE) 3 geostationary satellites [41] No expansion planned as of June 2026. EMEA and Asia L band Internet access, satellite telephony
Starlink SpaceX (US) LEO in several orbital shells
  • ~10 397 satellites at 550 km (Jun 2026) [42]
  • 42 000 total satellites at ~350–550 km (planned) [42]
  • 44°S to 52°N (Feb 2021)
  • Global
  • Ku (12–18 GHz)
  • Ka (26.5–40 GHz)
 Internet access[43][44][45]
OneWeb constellation Eutelsat (completed merger in Sep 2023)(FR) 882–1980[46] (planned)

Number of operational satellites: 654 as of 16 June 2026[47]

 Global
  • Ku (12–18 GHz)
  • Ka (26.5–40 GHz)
 Internet access
Amazon LEO Amazon (US) 330+ in orbit as of June 2026 at 590-630km/ 370–390 miles

Total number of satellites planned : 3 236 [48]

 56°S to 56°N[49] aiming for global 
Ka (27.5-30 GHz)[50]
 Internet access
Astra SES (Lux) 10 operational and 3 backups in LEO[51]

Total planned: 13620[52]

 global V-Band [52] Internet access
Guowang China Satellite Network Group(CN) 177 in LEO[53] Total number planned: 13 000. global Q/V band 37.5-42.5 GHz

47.2-51.4 GHz [54]

 Internet access
Yinhe Galaxy Space(CN) 8 in LEO as of June 2026[55] Total number planned: 1 000[56] global Ka Q/V band[57] 5G[57]
TianTong China Telecom (CN) 3 in GEO. No expansion planned as of June 2026. Middle East, Asia, Africa S-Band [58] D2D
Viasat-3 Viasat Inc.(US) 3 in GEO(22 237 miles) No expansion planned as of June 2026.[59] 90% global. No coverage on Poles and Iceland, Greenland.[60] Ka Band [59] Internet access
Connecta Plan S(Turkey) 16 in LEO[61] Total planned constellation of 200+[62] global[63] IoT[63]
Ultralite Myriota(AUS) 40+ in LEO[64] global VHF and UHF[65] IoT[64]
AstroCast AstroCast (Switzerland) 18 nanosats in LEO (Plan for 100sats by 2024[66] but severe delays/future uncertain because of financial struggles) global L-band [67] Iot
Al Yah Space42(UAE) 2 in GEO Total of 4 planned[68] EU, Asia, Africa, Middle East[68] C,L, Ka, Ku band[69] Internet access[68]
Unicorn Alba Orbital(UK) 15 in LEO[70] Total of ~20 planned[71] global UHF amateur bands (437MHz; 2.4 GHz) uplift and downlift[70] Internet access
Fossa Systems Fossa Systems (Spain) w/ EU 25 in LEO[72] Total of ~80 planned[73] global UHF ISM[74] IoT
Hello Space Hello Space(Turkey) 1 in LEO[75] Total of 100 planned[76] global IoT
Arkedge Space ArkEdge Space (JPN) 3 in LEO [77] global VDES[78]
TY-MiniSAR Spacety CN) min 2 sats in LEO. Total of 56 planned[79] global C-band and X-Band [79] Internet access
anuvu anuvu(US) 2 in GEO. Total planned : 8[80] global Internet access
Qianfan SSST(CN) 201[81] in LEO[82]. Total of 15 000 planned.[82] global Ku , Q and V bands [83] Internet access
TDRS NASA(US) 7 in GEO. No expansion planned as of June 2026.[84] global S, Ku , Ka band [84] Internet access
Bluewalker/Bluebird AST SpaceMobile (US) 9 in LEO [85]Total planned : 168[86] global connectivity direct to smartphones
Tianqi 3G Beijing Guodian Gaoke (CN) 41 in orbit LEO with 29 operational. A total of 3 918 is planned[87] gloabl data relay

Other Internet access systems are proposed or currently being developed:

Some systems were proposed but never realized:

Abandoned communication satellite constellation designs
Name Operator Constellation design Freq. Services Abandoned date
Celestri Motorola 63 satellites at 1400 km, 48° (7 planes) Ka band (20/30 GHz) Global, low-latency broadband Internet services 1998 May
Teledesic Teledesic
  • 840 satellites at 700 km, 98.2° (21 planes) [1994 design]
  • 288 satellites at 1400 km, 98.2° (12 planes) [1997 design]
 Ka band (20/30 GHz) 100 Mbit/s up, 720 Mbit/s down global internet access 2002 October
LeoSat Thales Alenia 78–108 satellites at 1400 km Ka (26.5–40 GHz) High-speed broadband internet 2019


Progress

Earth observation satellite constellations

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Operational Earth observation/remote sensing satellite constellations
Constellation operator Constellation design coverage service
Jilin-1 Chang Guang Satellite Technology (CN) 63 satellites in SSO LEO [98]. With a total planned of 300.[99] global EO, ISR support, maritime monitoring[100]
Spire SpireGlobal (US) 83 in LEO[101]With a total scalable up to 200 [102] global EO, weather monitoring
Foresight Space42(UAE) 5 in LEO[103] nearly global EO, SAR Radar[104]
Grid Tsinghua University (CN) 5 in LEO with a total of 20-30 planned [105] global Gamma Ray Bursts observation[105]
CO3D CNES (FR) 4 in LEO with a plan of 20 in total [106] global mapping and imaging[106]
Aleph-1 Satellogic(US) 54 (+3 prototypes) in LEO. A total of 200+ is planned [107] global EO
DMC DMCii (Multiple countries)[108] 6 in LEO[109] global EO imaging [109]
Starpool(Xingchi) EllipSpace (CN) 4 in LEO[110]. With a total of 112 planned [111] global remote sensing, iCNR[112]
CentiSpace/ WALKER
Capella X-SAR
iceye
Gaojing
yunyao
HiVE
HJ-2
Atlantic
Swarm
Umbra
SkySat
KGS
RCM
QPS-SAR
StriX
Hancom Hancom InSpace(South Korea) 3 (hyperspectral) in LEO [113]Planned constellation of 50[114] global remote sensing image data[114]
Hawkey-360
Atlantic constellation
Lusiada
  • Veery
  • REC
  • StingRay

See also

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Notes

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References

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  1. ↑ "On the increasing number of satellite constellations". www.eso.org. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  2. ↑ LEO constellations and tracking challenges Satellite Evolution Group, September 2017, Accessed 26 March 2021
  3. ↑ Real-Time Latency: Rethinking Remote Networks Archived 2021-07-21 at the Wayback Machine Telesat, February 2020, Accessed 26 March 2021
  4. ↑ J. G. Walker, Circular Orbit Patterns Providing Continuous Whole Earth Coverage, TR 70211, Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, England, U.K., 1970.
  5. ↑ J. G. Walker, Continuous Whole Earth-Coverage by Circular-Orbit Satellite Patterns, TR 77044, Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, England, U.K., 1977.
  6. 1 2 A. H. Ballard, Rosette Constellations of Earth Satellites, IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, Vol 16 No. 5, Sep. 1980.
  7. ↑ P. Chadalavada, and A. Dutta, Regional CubeSat Constellation Design to Monitor Hurricanes, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, Vol. 60, pp. 1–8, Nov. 2021.
  8. ↑ D. O. Williams Rogers, M. C. Fox, P. R. Stysley, and H. Lee, Optimal Placement and Coordinated Scheduling of Distributed Space-Based Lasers for Orbital Debris Remediation, Advances in Space Research, Vol. 76, No. 9, pp. 5265–5293, Nov. 2025.
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