There are now 17,000 satellites in orbit, and ESA warns of Kessler syndrome risk

The number of active satellites has grown from about 1,000 in 2013 to roughly 17,000 today, with around 11,000 belonging to SpaceX's Starlink. In its annual Space Environment Report, ESA projects exponentially rising collision rates and warns the orbital environment could become unstable by mid-century.

• About 17,000 active satellites are in orbit, up from 1,000 in 2013
• Starlink accounts for roughly 11,000, with Amazon and Chinese constellations growing
• ESA sharply raised its satellite projections and warns of rising collisions
• Orbital data centers are excluded from the forecast but could add hundreds of thousands of satellites