IUE

IUE is an active satellite operated by United States, launched on 1978-01-26 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. With over 48 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 29,715 km and 41,963 km with an inclination of 36.8°. It travels at approximately 11,063 km/h (3.07 km/s), completing one full orbit every ~24 hours (geosynchronous) — that’s roughly 1.00 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.1451 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. At geostationary altitude, there is no meaningful atmospheric drag — this object will remain in orbit indefinitely unless actively deorbited. Orbital Radar tracks IUE in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

IUE orbits at an average altitude of 35,839 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 IUE’s average altitude, there are currently 115 active payloads and 51 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. With an inclination of 36.8°, IUE passes over latitudes between 36.8°N and 36.8°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. United States operates approximately 12,360 active satellites in total, of which 17 share a similar altitude band with IUE.