MOLNIYA 1-90

MOLNIYA 1-90 is an active satellite operated by VKS RVSN (Russia (CIS)), launched on 1997-09-24 from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia on the Molniya-1T No. 98 launch. With over 29 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 1,700 km and 24,554 km with an inclination of 64.4°. It travels at approximately 16,277 km/h (4.52 km/s), completing one full orbit every 7 hours 32 minutes — that’s roughly 3.19 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.5861 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Orbital Radar tracks MOLNIYA 1-90 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

MOLNIYA 1-90 orbits at an average altitude of 13,127 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 1-90’s average altitude, there are currently 1 active payload and 5 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 1-90 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 1,536 active satellites in total.