TIANLIAN-3 01

TIANLIAN-3 01 is an active satellite operated by China, launched on 2026-07-29 from Wenchang, China on the Tianlian 3-01 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 217 km and 35,795 km with an inclination of 15.4°. It travels at approximately 14,557 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 0.7297 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Orbital Radar tracks TIANLIAN-3 01 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

TIANLIAN-3 01 orbits at an average altitude of 18,006 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-3 01’s average altitude, there are currently 2 active payloads and 10 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 15.4°, TIANLIAN-3 01 passes over latitudes between 15.4°N and 15.4°S, concentrating coverage over equatorial and near-equatorial regions. Low-inclination orbits maximise revisit rates over specific tropical zones. China operates approximately 1,248 active satellites in total, of which 2 share a similar altitude band with TIANLIAN-3 01.