TIANLIAN-2 06

TIANLIAN-2 06 is an active satellite operated by China, launched on 2026-07-23 from Xichang, China on the Tianlian 2-06 launch. As a relatively recent addition to the catalogue, its orbital elements are well-characterised. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 215 km and 35,813 km with an inclination of 27.0°. It travels at approximately 14,555 km/h (4.04 km/s), completing one full orbit every 10 hours 32 minutes — that’s roughly 2.28 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.7299 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Orbital Radar tracks TIANLIAN-2 06 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

TIANLIAN-2 06 orbits at an average altitude of 18,014 km in Medium Earth Orbit, the region between LEO and GEO (2,000–35,786 km). MEO’s higher altitude gives each satellite a much larger ground footprint than LEO, meaning fewer spacecraft are needed for global coverage — but signal latency is higher and radiation from the Van Allen belts is a significant design constraint. Within ±50 km of TIANLIAN-2 06’s average altitude, there are currently 3 active payloads and 12 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. This is a relatively sparse altitude band, containing less than 1% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 27.0°, TIANLIAN-2 06 passes over latitudes between 27.0°N and 27.0°S, covering the tropical and temperate zones where most of the world’s population resides. Low-to-mid inclination orbits are efficient to reach from equatorial and mid-latitude launch sites. China operates approximately 1,249 active satellites in total, of which 3 share a similar altitude band with TIANLIAN-2 06.