COSMOS 1950

COSMOS 1950 is an active satellite operated by Russia (CIS), launched on 1988-05-30 from PKMTR. With over 38 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 1,484 km and 1,522 km with an inclination of 73.6°. It travels at approximately 25,614 km/h (7.11 km/s), completing one full orbit every 116 minutes — that’s roughly 12.41 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is thousands of years. Orbital Radar tracks COSMOS 1950 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

COSMOS 1950 orbits at an average altitude of 1,503 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 1950’s average altitude, there are currently 231 active payloads and 255 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. With an inclination of 73.6°, COSMOS 1950 passes over latitudes between 73.6°N and 73.6°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 1,285 active satellites in total, of which 221 share a similar altitude band with COSMOS 1950.