OSCAR 23 (KITSAT 1)

OSCAR 23 (KITSAT 1) is an active satellite operated by South Korea, launched on 1992-08-10 from Guiana Space Centre, Kourou. With over 34 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 1,303 km and 1,327 km with an inclination of 66.1°. It travels at approximately 25,925 km/h (7.20 km/s), completing one full orbit every 112 minutes — that’s roughly 12.87 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is thousands of years. Orbital Radar tracks OSCAR 23 (KITSAT 1) in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

OSCAR 23 (KITSAT 1) orbits at an average altitude of 1,315 km in the uppermost reaches of Low Earth Orbit. At this altitude, orbital decay is effectively zero without active deorbiting, and coverage footprints are significantly larger than lower LEO, though at the cost of higher latency. Within ±50 km of OSCAR 23 (KITSAT 1)’s average altitude, there are currently 13 active payloads and 260 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 66.1°, OSCAR 23 (KITSAT 1) passes over latitudes between 66.1°N and 66.1°S, covering most populated land masses in both hemispheres. This mid-inclination band balances global coverage with efficient launch energy requirements. South Korea operates approximately 51 active satellites in total.