STRV 1D

STRV 1D is an active satellite operated by United Kingdom, launched on 2000-11-16 from Guiana Space Centre, Kourou. With over 26 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 653 km and 39,215 km with an inclination of 7.0°. It travels at approximately 14,014 km/h (3.89 km/s), completing one full orbit every 11 hours 48 minutes — that’s roughly 2.03 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.7330 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Orbital Radar tracks STRV 1D in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

STRV 1D orbits at an average altitude of 19,934 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 STRV 1D’s average altitude, there are currently 6 active payloads and 22 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 7.0°, STRV 1D passes over latitudes between 7.0°N and 7.0°S, concentrating coverage over equatorial and near-equatorial regions. Low-inclination orbits maximise revisit rates over specific tropical zones. United Kingdom operates approximately 720 active satellites in total, of which 2 share a similar altitude band with STRV 1D.