COSMOS 979

COSMOS 979 is an active satellite operated by Russia (CIS), launched on 1978-01-10 from PKMTR. With over 48 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 1,436 km and 1,463 km with an inclination of 74.0°. It travels at approximately 25,701 km/h (7.14 km/s), completing one full orbit every 115 minutes — that’s roughly 12.54 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is thousands of years. Orbital Radar tracks COSMOS 979 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

COSMOS 979 orbits at an average altitude of 1,450 km in the uppermost reaches of Low Earth Orbit. At this altitude, orbital decay is effectively zero without active deorbiting, and coverage footprints are significantly larger than lower LEO, though at the cost of higher latency. Within ±50 km of COSMOS 979’s average altitude, there are currently 436 active payloads and 227 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. With an inclination of 74.0°, COSMOS 979 passes over latitudes between 74.0°N and 74.0°S, covering most populated land masses in both hemispheres. This mid-inclination band balances global coverage with efficient launch energy requirements. Russia (CIS) operates approximately 1,285 active satellites in total, of which 398 share a similar altitude band with COSMOS 979.