COSMOS 1247

COSMOS 1247 is an active satellite operated by Russia (CIS), launched on 1981-02-19 from PKMTR. With over 45 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 3,573 km and 36,451 km with an inclination of 69.2°. It travels at approximately 13,993 km/h (3.89 km/s), completing one full orbit every 11 hours 51 minutes — that’s roughly 2.03 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.6231 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Orbital Radar tracks COSMOS 1247 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

COSMOS 1247 orbits at an average altitude of 20,012 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 COSMOS 1247’s average altitude, there are currently 4 active payloads and 15 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. This is a relatively sparse altitude band, containing less than 1% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 69.2°, COSMOS 1247 passes over latitudes between 69.2°N and 69.2°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 1,286 active satellites in total, of which 4 share a similar altitude band with COSMOS 1247.