IRIDIUM 5

IRIDIUM 5 is an active satellite operated by Iridium Communications (United States), launched on 1997-05-05 from Vandenberg SFB, California. With over 29 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 503 km and 640 km with an inclination of 86.4°. It travels at approximately 27,278 km/h (7.58 km/s), completing one full orbit every 96 minutes — that’s roughly 14.98 orbits per day. It is part of the Iridium constellation group. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~3–10 years. Orbital Radar tracks IRIDIUM 5 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

IRIDIUM 5 orbits at an average altitude of 572 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 IRIDIUM 5’s average altitude, there are currently 3,132 active payloads and 496 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include ONEWEB-0050, STARLINK-1522, STARLINK-2112. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 18% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 86.4°, IRIDIUM 5 passes over latitudes between 86.4°N and 86.4°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. United States operates approximately 12,360 active satellites in total, of which 2,603 share a similar altitude band with IRIDIUM 5.