STRV 1A

STRV 1A is an active satellite operated by DRA (United Kingdom), launched on 1994-06-17 from Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana on the INTELSAT 702 launch. With over 32 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 243 km and 23,995 km with an inclination of 7.3°. It travels at approximately 16,715 km/h (4.64 km/s), completing one full orbit every 6 hours 57 minutes — that’s roughly 3.45 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.6423 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Orbital Radar tracks STRV 1A in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

STRV 1A orbits at an average altitude of 12,119 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 STRV 1A’s average altitude, there are currently 1 active payload and 3 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 7.3°, STRV 1A passes over latitudes between 7.3°N and 7.3°S, concentrating coverage over equatorial and near-equatorial regions. Low-inclination orbits maximise revisit rates over specific tropical zones. United Kingdom operates approximately 723 active satellites in total.