SpaceX just announced plans to lower about nearly half of its 9,000 Starlink satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) by 44 miles throughout 2026 to improve network performance and reduce the risks that space debris poses, Business Today reported on Jan. 2. The company's planned move highlights some of the problems inherent in the way orbital slots for satellites are allocated.
Administered by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a United Nations agency, these slots are free but go to countries or companies on a first-come, first-served basis rather than in an organized manner.
This policy matters because "space is no longer a distant frontier, but the next layer of global infrastructure," the Turkish Space Agency wrote in a Dec. 9, 2025, article. The global space economy is forecasted to exceed US$1.8 trillion by 2035, according to the World Economic Forum, as satellite-enabled services expand into every sector. This compares to its US$613 billion size in 2024, as reported by the Space Foundation. New related markets are emerging, in space traffic management and debris removal solutions, for example, according to a Spherical Insights report.
Worsening Conditions
Earth's orbits are becoming crowded. Of the 1,800 geostationary orbital slots, 22,236 miles above Earth's equator, where satellites match the planet's rotation and appear stationary, 573 are occupied by active satellites, and the remainder have been claimed via the ITU, as of Jan. 1, 2026, Satellite Signals' data show.
"While geostationary orbital slots are the most useful and limited, there are many other orbits around Earth," an article in Astronomy noted. "These, too, are filling up, adding to the growing problem of space debris."
Space junk is nonfunctioning, human-made objects in Earth's orbit, including abandoned satellites, rocket parts, fragments from collisions, pieces from hardware deployments, debris from anti-satellite weapons tests and even paint flecks. The number of junk pieces in space is an estimated 130 million, reported Daily Galaxy in a December 2025 article. Debris can threaten space expeditions and the lives of crew members and be costly. In November 2025, microscopic space debris cracked the window of China's Shenzhou-20 spacecraft, "delaying the crew's return and triggering the country's first emergency launch mission," the article read.
In LEO, between 100 and 1,200 miles above Earth, about 11,000–12,000 satellites are active. LEO is attractive because its proximity to the planet enables lower latency and higher data speeds for broadband, sharper images for Earth observation, and lower costs to launch smaller satellites.
According to a December 2025 article in Space, about 15,000 satellites currently circle the planet, 60% of which belong to Starlink.
"If every constellation currently filed with regulators were approved and launched, Earth [would] be encircled by half a million satellites by the end of the 2030s," the article pointed out.
The current approach to granting orbital slots is inequitable, favoring first movers and entities with monetary and financial wealth, noted the Astronomy article. Developing countries and nations lacking space programs and the technology to use geostationary orbit are disadvantaged.
"Just a few entities still own most of the active satellites in a few countries, and coordination rules can be hard to navigate for agencies with thin budgets and small technical teams," the Turkish Space Agency wrote.
The orbital slot policy has engendered unfair practices, further exacerbating the uneven playing field between the haves and have-nots. One is slot hoarding, amassing more orbital slots than the filer can use, reported a March 2025 European Journal of International Law blog post. Another strategy is filing for paper satellites, ones that likely never will be launched or even manufactured. A key motivation behind both is to prevent competitors from accessing the taken slots.
"There is a need for ITU reform, including stricter rules for mega-constellation submissions, to preserve the long-term viability of the orbital commons," the post read.
The recent article in Space also highlighted another problem, that of satellite constellations intruding on space-based telescopes. Astronomers reported in 2023 that satellite trails, which "erase, obscure or mimic genuine cosmic signals," appeared in images the Hubble Space Telescope captured. Researchers determined that by the late 2030s, clusters of satellites could conceal most space telescope observations.
Proposals for Change
To address these problems, various changes or solutions have been proposed. One is an LEO orbital approach that employs carefully designed slots in nested concentric shells, as described in a 2024 article published online at Aerospace Research Central. This organized "shell" or "ring" structure, the authors asserted, would lower orbital risk and boost efficiency of orbital use.
Jian Wang, head of ITU's Space Notification and Plans Division, was quoted in a 2023 ITU article as suggesting we should "think of space plans like a parking plan for an apartment complex, with assigned spaces and rules."
A 2024 study proposed auctioning orbital slots rather than giving them away for free, according to a SpaceNews article.
With space regulations being discussed and the space economy growing, there are a few stocks that may see an impact as we move into the new year.
Spire Global Inc.
Headquartered in Virginia, Spire Global Inc. (SPIR:NYSE) builds, owns, and operates the world's largest multipurpose satellite constellation that observes Earth in real time using radiofrequency technology.
This small-cap company provides space-based data, analytics, and space services to customers worldwide. Spire's constellation consists of 110 LEMUR (Low Earth Multi-Use Receiver) nanosatellites that track a database of 600,000 vessels, 300,000-plus active vessels daily, and 15,000-plus aircraft per hour, according to Stock Titan.
In recent news, Spire was contracted by Deloitte to design, build, and operate eight satellites with advanced radio frequency and geolocation payloads in support of its Silent Shield cybersecurity mission, noted a Dec. 1 news release.
Stock Analysis reports that four analysts have an average rating of Buy on Spire and an average 12-month target price reflecting 52% upside from the company's Jan. 5 opening price.
1Regarding the ownership and share structure of Spire, 10 strategic entities own 7.6%. Institutions have 40.59%, and of these, 325 Capital LLC is the largest shareholder overall with 5.66%. Retail investors hold the rest.
Spire has 34.61 million (34.61M) shares outstanding, a market cap of US$259.56 million (US$259.56M), and a 52-week range of US$6.60–21.43 per share.
Lockheed Martin Corp.
Headquartered in Maryland, Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT:NYSE) is a global contractor that designs, develops, manufactures, and maintains advanced technology systems for security, defense, and aerospace.
The company's Space Fence, designed to detect, monitor, and characterize space objects as small as a marble in LEO, is the newest radar system of the U.S. Space Force.
Recently, this military branch's unit tasked with deploying disruptive space technology, the Space Development Agency (SDA), awarded Lockheed Martin a contract worth up to US$1.1 billion to provide 18 satellites carrying missile warning, tracking, and defense sensors, reported Breaking Defense in a Dec. 19 article. This is part of SDA's Tracking Layer constellation for Tranche 3 to be launched in fiscal year 2029.
Lockheed Martin's rating is Hold, according to TipRanks data from 14 analysts. Their average price target on the company suggests a 6% uplift from its Jan. 5 opening price.
1As for ownership and share structure, more than 3,000 institutions own the largest portion of Lockheed Martin, 74.7%. One of these, State Street Investment Management (US), is the largest shareholder overall, with 14.78%. Twenty-two strategic entities have 0.08%. Retail investors hold the rest.
Lockheed Martin has 231.4M shares outstanding. Its market cap is US$112 billion. Its 52-week range is US$410.11–516 per share.
Procure Space Exchange-Traded Fund
The Procure Space Exchange-Traded Fund (UFO:NASDAQ) consists of about 50 space economy stocks, including satellite, launch, defense, communications, tourism, and imagery companies.
Streetwise Ownership Overview*
Procure Space Exchange-Traded Fund (UFO:NASDAQ)
Along with Lockheed Martin and Spire, holdings as of Jan. 1, 2026 include AST SpaceMobile Inc. (ASTS:NASDAQ), Telesat Corp. (TSAT:NASDAQ), Globalstar Inc. (GSAT:NASDAQ), Rocket Lab Corp. (RKLB:NASDAQ), Planet Labs PBC (PL:NYSE), and Intuitive Machines Inc. (LUNR:NASDAQ).
The ETF had year-to-date returns of about 66% as of December 2025, notes Morningstar, and its most recent dividend, announced in December 2025, was US$0.09/share, 20% higher than the previous one in June. The companies in UFO achieved a record of 291 orbital launches in aggregate as of Dec. 6.
According to MarketBeat, the Procure Space ETF has an aggregate rating of Hold and a high price target that the fund already surpassed. These data are based on 263 analysts' ratings.
1As for ownership, about 50 institutions hold 16.55% of the fund, the top being Stifel, Nicolaus and Co. Inc. with 2.44%. Retail investors own the rest. The ETF has 4.53M shares outstanding. Its market cap is US$174.89M. Its 52-week range is US$18.40–41.19 per share.
Important Disclosures:
- As of the date of this article, officers, contractors, shareholders, and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of Lockheed Martin Corp.
- Doresa Banning wrote this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an independent contractor.
- This article does not constitute investment advice and is not a solicitation for any investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her personal financial adviser and perform their own comprehensive investment research. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company.
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1. Ownership and Share Structure Information
The information listed above was updated on the date this article was published and was compiled from information from the company and various other data providers.
