USA 72

USA 72 is an active satellite operated by United States, launched on 1991-11-08 from Vandenberg SFB, California. With over 35 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 2,616 km and 11,630 km with an inclination of 63.4°. It travels at approximately 19,566 km/h (5.43 km/s), completing one full orbit every 4 hours 20 minutes — that’s roughly 5.53 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.3340 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Orbital Radar tracks USA 72 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

USA 72 orbits at an average altitude of 7,123 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 USA 72’s average altitude, there are currently 2 active payloads and 6 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 63.4°, USA 72 passes over latitudes between 63.4°N and 63.4°S, covering most populated land masses in both hemispheres. This mid-inclination band balances global coverage with efficient launch energy requirements. United States operates approximately 12,360 active satellites in total.