OPS 1527 (OV3-1)

OPS 1527 (OV3-1) is an active satellite operated by USAF OAR (United States), launched on 1966-04-22 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, United States on the OV3-1 launch. After more than 60 years in orbit, it is one of the longest-surviving objects in the space catalogue. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 329 km and 2,474 km with an inclination of 82.4°. It travels at approximately 25,780 km/h (7.16 km/s), completing one full orbit every 114 minutes — that’s roughly 12.65 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.1380 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is thousands of years. Orbital Radar tracks OPS 1527 (OV3-1) in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

OPS 1527 (OV3-1) orbits at an average altitude of 1,402 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 OPS 1527 (OV3-1)’s average altitude, there are currently 337 active payloads and 275 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. With an inclination of 82.4°, OPS 1527 (OV3-1) passes over latitudes between 82.4°N and 82.4°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. United States operates approximately 13,276 active satellites in total, of which 20 share a similar altitude band with OPS 1527 (OV3-1).