MOLNIYA 3-42

MOLNIYA 3-42 is an active satellite operated by Russia (CIS), launched on 1992-10-14 from PKMTR. With over 34 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 1,145 km and 35,978 km with an inclination of 64.4°. It travels at approximately 14,394 km/h (4.00 km/s), completing one full orbit every 10 hours 53 minutes — that’s roughly 2.20 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.6985 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Orbital Radar tracks MOLNIYA 3-42 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

MOLNIYA 3-42 orbits at an average altitude of 18,562 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 MOLNIYA 3-42’s average altitude, there are currently 1 active payload and 13 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 64.4°, MOLNIYA 3-42 passes over latitudes between 64.4°N and 64.4°S, covering most populated land masses in both hemispheres. This mid-inclination band balances global coverage with efficient launch energy requirements. Russia (CIS) operates approximately 1,285 active satellites in total.