SECOR 5 (EGRS 5)

SECOR 5 (EGRS 5) is an active satellite operated by USA ACE / GIMRADA (United States), launched on 1965-08-10 from Wallops Flight Facility / MARS, United States on the Secor Type I S/N 2 launch. After more than 61 years in orbit, it is one of the longest-surviving objects in the space catalogue. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 1,136 km and 2,419 km with an inclination of 69.2°. It travels at approximately 25,179 km/h (6.99 km/s), completing one full orbit every 2 hours 2 minutes — that’s roughly 11.79 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is thousands of years. Orbital Radar tracks SECOR 5 (EGRS 5) in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

SECOR 5 (EGRS 5) orbits at an average altitude of 1,778 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 SECOR 5 (EGRS 5)’s average altitude, there are currently 7 active payloads and 40 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°, SECOR 5 (EGRS 5) 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. United States operates approximately 13,279 active satellites in total, of which 2 share a similar altitude band with SECOR 5 (EGRS 5).