SICH 1

SICH 1 is an active satellite operated by Ukraine, launched on 1995-08-31 from PKMTR. With over 31 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 571 km and 596 km with an inclination of 82.5°. It travels at approximately 27,255 km/h (7.57 km/s), completing one full orbit every 96 minutes — that’s roughly 14.95 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~3–10 years. Orbital Radar tracks SICH 1 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

SICH 1 orbits at an average altitude of 584 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 SICH 1’s average altitude, there are currently 3,208 active payloads and 575 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include ONEWEB-0050, STARLINK-3005, STARLINK-3090. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 18.4% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 82.5°, SICH 1 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. Ukraine operates approximately 4 active satellites in total.