COSMOS 2038

COSMOS 2038 is an active satellite operated by Russia (CIS), launched on 1989-09-14 from PKMTR. With over 37 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 1,391 km and 1,410 km with an inclination of 82.6°. It travels at approximately 25,782 km/h (7.16 km/s), completing one full orbit every 114 minutes — that’s roughly 12.65 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is thousands of years. Orbital Radar tracks COSMOS 2038 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

COSMOS 2038 orbits at an average altitude of 1,401 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 2038’s average altitude, there are currently 245 active payloads and 158 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. With an inclination of 82.6°, COSMOS 2038 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 211 share a similar altitude band with COSMOS 2038.