COSMOS 1285

COSMOS 1285 is an active satellite operated by Russia (CIS), launched on 1981-08-04 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 4,333 km and 36,478 km with an inclination of 68.6°. It travels at approximately 13,890 km/h (3.86 km/s), completing one full orbit every 12 hours 7 minutes — that’s roughly 1.98 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.6002 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Orbital Radar tracks COSMOS 1285 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

COSMOS 1285 orbits at an average altitude of 20,406 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 1285’s average altitude, there are currently 2 active payloads and 8 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 68.6°, COSMOS 1285 passes over latitudes between 68.6°N and 68.6°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.