COSMOS 2098

COSMOS 2098 is an active satellite operated by PVO (Russia (CIS)), launched on 1990-08-28 from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia on the Vektor launch. With over 36 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 385 km and 1,467 km with an inclination of 82.9°. It travels at approximately 26,607 km/h (7.39 km/s), completing one full orbit every 104 minutes — that’s roughly 13.91 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~100–500 years. Orbital Radar tracks COSMOS 2098 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

COSMOS 2098 orbits at an average altitude of 926 km in the upper LEO band, where atmospheric drag is negligible and objects can persist for centuries to millennia. This altitude is used by broadband constellations like OneWeb and by scientific missions requiring stable orbits far from the densest debris bands. Within ±50 km of COSMOS 2098’s average altitude, there are currently 349 active payloads and 1,424 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. With an inclination of 82.9°, COSMOS 2098 passes over latitudes between 82.9°N and 82.9°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 1,547 active satellites in total, of which 86 share a similar altitude band with COSMOS 2098.