How many satellites are there in space?
If you mean man-made satellites then there are about 2500 that are still active. Over four thousand have been placed into Earth orbits but many have returned to Earth and many others have ceased functioning. The exact number may never be known because of military (and corporate) secrecy. That may seem like a very large number of satellites but the Earth is a vast planet and most satellite orbits are at an altitude separate from others. In a way satellites surround us but they are not large. If they were crushed they would all fit into an average farm barn (including the International Space Station). There is a real hazard for astronauts from space litter. (Technically, these are man-made satellites.) There are thousands of bolts, pieces of plastic, paint chips etc. that are in orbits around the Earth. Paint chips don’t sound like a threat but they are when they are moving at seven miles per second. .
