ELECTRON SECOND STAGE

ELECTRON SECOND STAGE is an active satellite operated by Japan, launched on 2026-09-02 from RLLC. As a relatively recent addition to the catalogue, its orbital elements are well-characterised. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 219 km and 581 km with an inclination of 38.0°. It travels at approximately 27,621 km/h (7.67 km/s), completing one full orbit every 93 minutes — that’s roughly 15.56 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~1–3 years. Orbital Radar tracks ELECTRON SECOND STAGE in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

ELECTRON SECOND STAGE orbits at an average altitude of 400 km in the core of Low Earth Orbit, the most heavily utilised altitude band. The balance of moderate drag (limiting debris accumulation) and short signal path (enabling low-latency links and high-resolution imaging) makes this regime the default for most commercial and government missions. Within ±50 km of ELECTRON SECOND STAGE’s average altitude, there are currently 1,145 active payloads and 86 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include STARLINK-1008, STARLINK-1012, STARLINK-1020. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 6.3% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 38.0°, ELECTRON SECOND STAGE passes over latitudes between 38.0°N and 38.0°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. Japan operates approximately 205 active satellites in total, of which 6 share a similar altitude band with ELECTRON SECOND STAGE.