Is it true that commercial communications satellites account for the largest share of commercially used satellites?
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Is it true that commercial communications satellites account for the largest share of commercially used satellites?
Definitely, and this is becoming even more true with the advent of constellations such as Starlink. In addition to those low Earth orbit communications satellites, the vast majority of the satellites in geosynchronous orbit are communications satellites.
Many of the other satellites that do have commercial application are the civilian equivalent of spy satellites. While there certainly is a commercial demand for that usage, those satellites are expensive and there is no need for continuous coverage.
A third commercial application is the medium Earth orbit set of global navigation satellites such as GPS. Once again, the number of satellites needed for that purpose is limited.
answered Feb 12 at 23:05
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1$\begingroup$ Where do weather satellites fit in your taxonomy? $\endgroup$– BarmarFeb 13 at 15:03
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$\begingroup$ @Barmar Those are Earth observation satellites, which are conceptually much closer to spy satellites than communications satellites. There are even commercial Earth observation satellites that are not used for observing the weather. Those non-meteorological commercial Earth observation satellites sometimes even have a dual use as spy satellites. There not that many of them. $\endgroup$ Feb 14 at 11:13