OPS 5805

OPS 5805 is an active satellite operated by NRO / SAFSP (United States), launched on 1980-12-13 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, United States on the SDS 4 launch. With over 46 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 3,170 km and 37,254 km with an inclination of 63.9°. It travels at approximately 13,940 km/h (3.87 km/s), completing one full orbit every 11 hours 59 minutes — that’s roughly 2.00 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.6411 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Orbital Radar tracks OPS 5805 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

OPS 5805 orbits at an average altitude of 20,212 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 5805’s average altitude, there are currently 96 active payloads and 14 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. With an inclination of 63.9°, OPS 5805 passes over latitudes between 63.9°N and 63.9°S, covering most populated land masses in both hemispheres. This mid-inclination band balances global coverage with efficient launch energy requirements. United States operates approximately 13,342 active satellites in total, of which 44 share a similar altitude band with OPS 5805.