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Satellite constellation

A group of satellites operated together as one system, arranged so that their coverage overlaps instead of each spacecraft working alone.

Why it matters

A single low-orbit satellite is over any given place for a few minutes at a time, which is useless for continuous service. A constellation solves that by handing the user from one spacecraft to the next, which is why continuous broadband from low orbit requires hundreds or thousands of satellites rather than a handful. That changes the engineering problem from building one exquisite spacecraft to manufacturing many cheap ones, and it changes the launch problem from one flight to a sustained production line.

In our data

The scale shows up in who flies. 148 of the 350 missions we track are SpaceX, far more than any other provider, and a large share of those are constellation deployment flights rather than one-off payloads. Our tracker even classifies 18 missions under a dedicated broadband-constellation orbit label, separate from generic low Earth orbit.

Where we use it

Not to be confused with

An astronomical constellation - a pattern of stars, nothing to do with spacecraft. Also distinct from a fleet: a fleet is simply several satellites owned by one operator, while a constellation is designed so the satellites cover for one another.