CLUSTER II-FM8

CLUSTER II-FM8 is an active satellite operated by European Space Agency (ESA) (and 250 international scientific investigators) (ESA (European Space Agency)), launched on 2000-08-09 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 464 km and 131,898 km with an inclination of 150.2°. It travels at approximately 8,438 km/h (2.34 km/s), completing one full orbit every 54.0 hours — that’s roughly 0.44 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.9058 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-FM8 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

CLUSTER II-FM8 follows a Highly Elliptical Orbit, sweeping between 464 km (perigee) and 131,898 km (apogee). It spends most of its 54.0 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 150.2°, CLUSTER II-FM8 passes over latitudes between 150.2°N and 150.2°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.