How many satellites orbit Earth today? We have answers

Space pollution is a real problem and the number of satellites could become a problem, do you know how many are in orbit? This is the figure.

In the endearing film 'Wall-E' of Disney Pixar, where basically the story of the Post-Earth is told after we finish with our planet for polluting it, Earth's orbit appears covered with a cloud of satellites.

That is the reality that awaits us if we do not manage the problem of space junk, which refers to the devices and waste that humans leave outside the atmosphere. So far the issue does not represent a threat, but if they continue to launch satellites, we can get to that point.

Currently there are 4,921 satellites circling the Earth, according to the Index of Objects Launched into Outer Space, prepared by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (in English, UNOOSA).

But not all these devices are working, about 2,600 of all these devices no longer work. To these accounts must be added another 17,000 human objects floating freely through space. In total, the space debris that orbits Earth exceeds 7,600 tons as reported in February this year by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the US (the very famous NASA).

The saturation has reached a point where these wastes and active devices may collide, although this does not happen frequently. In February 2009, two communications satellites, one American and one Russian, collided in space. It is believed that this was the first time that two man-made satellites accidentally collided, describes the Nesdis center.