CLUSTER II-FM7

CLUSTER II-FM7 is an active satellite operated by European Space Agency (ESA) (and 250 international scientific investigators) (ESA (European Space Agency)), launched on 2000-07-16 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. With over 26 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO) at altitudes between 413 km and 131,053 km with an inclination of 149.9°. It travels at approximately 8,464 km/h (2.35 km/s), completing one full orbit every 53.5 hours — that’s roughly 0.45 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.9059 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. At geostationary altitude, there is no meaningful atmospheric drag — this object will remain in orbit indefinitely unless actively deorbited. Orbital Radar tracks CLUSTER II-FM7 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

CLUSTER II-FM7 follows a Highly Elliptical Orbit, sweeping between 413 km (perigee) and 131,053 km (apogee). It spends most of its 53.5 hours orbital period near apogee, effectively loitering over a region of interest before rapidly sweeping through perigee — a profile used for high-latitude communications (Molniya orbits), early-warning systems and magnetospheric science. With an inclination of 149.9°, CLUSTER II-FM7 passes over latitudes between 149.9°N and 149.9°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. ESA (European Space Agency) operates approximately 93 active satellites in total.