MOLNIYA 1-52

MOLNIYA 1-52 is an active satellite operated by Russia (CIS), launched on 1981-12-23 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan on the Molniya-1 11F658 No. 55 launch. With over 45 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO) at altitudes between 377 km and 40,015 km with an inclination of 61.7°. It travels at approximately 13,944 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 0.7460 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Orbital Radar tracks MOLNIYA 1-52 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

MOLNIYA 1-52 follows a Highly Elliptical Orbit, sweeping between 377 km (perigee) and 40,015 km (apogee). It spends most of its 11 hours 59 minutes orbital period near apogee, effectively loitering over a region of interest before rapidly sweeping through perigee — a profile used for high-latitude communications (Molniya orbits), early-warning systems and magnetospheric science. Within ±50 km of MOLNIYA 1-52’s average altitude, there are currently 104 active payloads and 15 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include GPS BIIR-5 (PRN 22), GPS BIIR-8 (PRN 16), GPS BIIR-11 (PRN 19). With an inclination of 61.7°, MOLNIYA 1-52 passes over latitudes between 61.7°N and 61.7°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 1,288 active satellites in total, of which 55 share a similar altitude band with MOLNIYA 1-52.