Jonathan McDowell has been tracking every object in orbit since 1989 — a one-person catalog that started as a weekly email newsletter and became the source governments and newsrooms cite when they need to know how many Starlink satellites are actually up there

Harvard astronomer Jonathan McDowell has tracked every object in orbit since 1989 from a personal database — and as Starlink crossed 10,600 active satellites in June 2026, his private catalog became the number governments, reporters, and regulators cite. The post Jonathan McDowell has been tracking every object in orbit since 1989 — a one-person catalog that started as a weekly email newsletter and became the source governments and newsrooms cite when they need to know how many Starlink satellit