Today, there are more than 2,600 active satellites in orbit, as well as thousands of dead satellites that circle the planet as space junk. But plummeting rocket prices and a revolution in small electronics are now fueling a commercial space rush, with companies combining to launch hundreds of additional satellites into orbit every year.
Just one of those companies, SpaceX, has plans to launch tens of thousands more satellites as part of its controversial Starlink constellation, which aims to provide space-based internet to the world. However, each Starlink satellite is expected to last just couple years before powering down and burning up in Earth's atmosphere.
But a lifespan of a few years is nothing compared to Earth’s oldest satellite: Vanguard 1. As America’s second satellite, it was launched into space on March 17, 1958. And though it only blasted off some six months after the Soviet's Sputnik satellite, Vanguard 1 ...
