MOLNIYA 3-40

MOLNIYA 3-40 is an active satellite operated by Russia (CIS), launched on 1991-03-22 from PKMTR. With over 35 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 3,033 km and 36,906 km with an inclination of 64.7°. It travels at approximately 14,004 km/h (3.89 km/s), completing one full orbit every 11 hours 49 minutes — that’s roughly 2.03 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.6430 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Orbital Radar tracks MOLNIYA 3-40 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

MOLNIYA 3-40 orbits at an average altitude of 19,970 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 MOLNIYA 3-40’s average altitude, there are currently 6 active payloads and 20 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. This is a relatively sparse altitude band, containing less than 1% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 64.7°, MOLNIYA 3-40 passes over latitudes between 64.7°N and 64.7°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 1,286 active satellites in total, of which 3 share a similar altitude band with MOLNIYA 3-40.