COSMOS 1712 (GLONASS)

COSMOS 1712 (GLONASS) is an active satellite operated by GUKOS (Russia (CIS)), launched on 1985-12-24 from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on the Uragan No. 22L launch. With over 41 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 19,118 km and 19,170 km with an inclination of 66.0°. It travels at approximately 14,229 km/h (3.95 km/s), completing one full orbit every 11 hours 16 minutes — that’s roughly 2.13 orbits per day. It is part of the Glo Ops constellation group. Orbital Radar tracks COSMOS 1712 (GLONASS) in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

COSMOS 1712 (GLONASS) orbits at an average altitude of 19,144 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 1712 (GLONASS)’s average altitude, there are currently 121 active payloads and 30 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include COSMOS 1414 (GLONASS), COSMOS 1490 (GLONASS), COSMOS 1492 (GLONASS). With an inclination of 66.0°, COSMOS 1712 (GLONASS) passes over latitudes between 66.0°N and 66.0°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 1,536 active satellites in total, of which 121 share a similar altitude band with COSMOS 1712 (GLONASS).