MAGION 3

MAGION 3 is an active satellite operated by CSFR (Czech Republic), launched on 1991-12-18 from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia on the AUOS-Z No. 301 launch. With over 35 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 431 km and 2,738 km with an inclination of 82.5°. It travels at approximately 25,482 km/h (7.08 km/s), completing one full orbit every 118 minutes — that’s roughly 12.22 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.1450 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 MAGION 3 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

MAGION 3 orbits at an average altitude of 1,585 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 MAGION 3’s average altitude, there are currently 37 active payloads and 304 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 82.5°, MAGION 3 passes over latitudes between 82.5°N and 82.5°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. Czech Republic operates approximately 3 active satellites in total.