MOLNIYA 3-24

MOLNIYA 3-24 is an active satellite operated by Russia (CIS), launched on 1985-05-29 from PKMTR. With over 41 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 574 km and 31,852 km with an inclination of 62.4°. It travels at approximately 15,124 km/h (4.20 km/s), completing one full orbit every 9 hours 23 minutes — that’s roughly 2.56 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.6925 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Orbital Radar tracks MOLNIYA 3-24 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

MOLNIYA 3-24 orbits at an average altitude of 16,213 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 MOLNIYA 3-24’s average altitude, there are currently 1 active payload and 7 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 62.4°, MOLNIYA 3-24 passes over latitudes between 62.4°N and 62.4°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.