The collaboration comes at a critical time. Experts have been warning for several years about the saturation of Earth's orbit, where active satellites, decommissioned spacecraft, and rocket fragments are accumulating. Today, approximately 36,500 objects larger than 10 centimeters are officially tracked in orbit by space surveillance agencies. If smaller fragments are included, estimates rise to approximately 1 million objects between 1 and 10 centimeters, and more than 130 million pieces of debris smaller than 1 centimeter.
LeoLabs is making a decisive innovation in this area. The American company is putting its ultra-precise tracking technology directly at the service of NASA, which assesses the risks of dangerous encounters between space objects. Thanks to its network of radars located around the world (from the United States to the Azores, Costa Rica, and New Zealand), the California-based company tracks nearly 25,000 objects in low orbit and now transmits this data to NASA to enhance collision risk analysis. At the heart of this innovation, the technology developed by LeoLabs relies on radars capable of recording millions of measurements, which are then analyzed by artificial intelligence tools. AI makes it possible to detect risky trajectories more quickly, predict dangerous close encounters, and help satellite operators take timely action. This intelligent processing transforms a mass of raw data into reliable information that is essential for protecting space infrastructure.
The number of satellites launched each year is increasing rapidly, particularly with the development of megaconstellations for telecommunications. The US military network, long the sole guarantor of orbital surveillance, is no longer sufficient to cover such dense traffic. By supplementing its capabilities, LeoLabs is helping to secure low Earth orbit, where even the slightest collision can generate thousands of additional pieces of debris and make certain areas difficult to use. LeoLabs offers an interactive 3D visualization that shows how much the Earth is surrounded by high-speed objects. You can see operational satellites, inactive rocket modules, and even small fragments from past incidents. The ability to filter by country or object type helps to understand the scale of the phenomenon and the challenges it poses for future space missions.
