OPS 1948

OPS 1948 is an active satellite operated by NRO / SAFSP (United States), launched on 1979-10-01 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, United States on the VORTEX 2 launch. With over 47 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 30,286 km and 41,316 km with an inclination of 6.1°. It travels at approximately 11,068 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 0.1308 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 OPS 1948 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

OPS 1948 orbits at an average altitude of 35,801 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 OPS 1948’s average altitude, there are currently 733 active payloads and 66 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include ASTRA 1N, GOES 16, TDRS 13. With an inclination of 6.1°, OPS 1948 passes over latitudes between 6.1°N and 6.1°S, concentrating coverage over equatorial and near-equatorial regions. Low-inclination orbits maximise revisit rates over specific tropical zones. United States operates approximately 13,340 active satellites in total, of which 154 share a similar altitude band with OPS 1948.