COSMOS 1878

COSMOS 1878 is an active satellite operated by Russia (CIS), launched on 1987-09-07 from PKMTR. With over 39 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 1,403 km and 1,407 km with an inclination of 82.6°. It travels at approximately 25,775 km/h (7.16 km/s), completing one full orbit every 114 minutes — that’s roughly 12.64 orbits per day. Its near-circular orbit (eccentricity close to zero) means it maintains a very consistent altitude throughout each revolution. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is thousands of years. Orbital Radar tracks COSMOS 1878 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

COSMOS 1878 orbits at an average altitude of 1,405 km in the uppermost reaches of Low Earth Orbit. At this altitude, orbital decay is effectively zero without active deorbiting, and coverage footprints are significantly larger than lower LEO, though at the cost of higher latency. Within ±50 km of COSMOS 1878’s average altitude, there are currently 260 active payloads and 158 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. With an inclination of 82.6°, COSMOS 1878 passes over latitudes between 82.6°N and 82.6°S, providing near-global coverage including the polar regions. Polar and near-polar orbits are used for reconnaissance, weather monitoring and Earth-observation missions that need to image every part of the planet. Russia (CIS) operates approximately 1,285 active satellites in total, of which 226 share a similar altitude band with COSMOS 1878.