COSMOS 1491 (GLONASS)

COSMOS 1491 (GLONASS) is an active satellite operated by Russian Space Forces (Russia (CIS)), launched on 1983-08-10 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. With over 43 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 18,894 km and 18,996 km with an inclination of 65.0°. It travels at approximately 14,285 km/h (3.97 km/s), completing one full orbit every 11 hours 8 minutes — that’s roughly 2.15 orbits per day. It is part of the Glo Ops constellation group. Orbital Radar tracks COSMOS 1491 (GLONASS) in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

COSMOS 1491 (GLONASS) orbits at an average altitude of 18,945 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 1491 (GLONASS)’s average altitude, there are currently 2 active payloads and 4 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 65.0°, COSMOS 1491 (GLONASS) passes over latitudes between 65.0°N and 65.0°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 2 share a similar altitude band with COSMOS 1491 (GLONASS).