COSMOS 2221

COSMOS 2221 is an active satellite operated by Russia (CIS), launched on 1992-11-24 from PKMTR. With over 34 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 568 km and 587 km with an inclination of 82.5°. It travels at approximately 27,266 km/h (7.57 km/s), completing one full orbit every 96 minutes — that’s roughly 14.97 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~3–10 years. Orbital Radar tracks COSMOS 2221 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

COSMOS 2221 orbits at an average altitude of 578 km in the core of Low Earth Orbit, the most heavily utilised altitude band. The balance of moderate drag (limiting debris accumulation) and short signal path (enabling low-latency links and high-resolution imaging) makes this regime the default for most commercial and government missions. Within ±50 km of COSMOS 2221’s average altitude, there are currently 3,125 active payloads and 526 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include ONEWEB-0050, STARLINK-2112, STARLINK-2722. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 17.9% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 82.5°, COSMOS 2221 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. Russia (CIS) operates approximately 1,285 active satellites in total, of which 33 share a similar altitude band with COSMOS 2221.