OBJECT A

OBJECT A (NORAD ID 101228) is a space object catalogued under India, launched on 2026-10-30 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India on the IRNSS-1L launch. As a relatively recent addition to the catalogue, its orbital elements are well-characterised. Independent catalogue analysis identifies this object as IRNSS-1L, attributed to ISRO. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 178 km and 37,896 km with an inclination of 20.7°. It travels at approximately 14,259 km/h (3.96 km/s), completing one full orbit every 11 hours 12 minutes — that’s roughly 2.14 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.7422 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Orbital Radar tracks OBJECT A in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

OBJECT A orbits at an average altitude of 19,037 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 OBJECT A’s average altitude, there are currently 4 active payloads and 11 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include COSMOS 1413 (GLONASS), COSMOS 1415 (GLONASS), COSMOS 1521 (GLONASS). This is a relatively sparse altitude band, containing less than 1% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 20.7°, OBJECT A passes over latitudes between 20.7°N and 20.7°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. India operates approximately 108 active satellites in total.