GEOTAIL

GEOTAIL is an active satellite operated by Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS)/NASA/ESA (Japan), launched on 1992-07-24 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. With over 34 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 46,986 km and 193,939 km with an inclination of 45.3°. It travels at approximately 6,382 km/h (1.77 km/s), completing one full orbit every 124.9 hours — that’s roughly 0.19 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.5793 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. At geostationary altitude, there is no meaningful atmospheric drag — this object will remain in orbit indefinitely unless actively deorbited. Orbital Radar tracks GEOTAIL in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

GEOTAIL orbits at an average altitude of 120,463 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. With an inclination of 45.3°, GEOTAIL passes over latitudes between 45.3°N and 45.3°S, covering the tropical and temperate zones where most of the world’s population resides. Low-to-mid inclination orbits are efficient to reach from equatorial and mid-latitude launch sites. Japan operates approximately 189 active satellites in total.