OMNI-M1

OMNI-M1 is an active satellite operated by New ICO, launched on 2001-06-19 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. With over 25 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 10,577 km and 10,625 km with an inclination of 44.8°. It travels at approximately 17,446 km/h (4.85 km/s), completing one full orbit every 6 hours 7 minutes — that’s roughly 3.92 orbits per day. Orbital Radar tracks OMNI-M1 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

OMNI-M1 orbits at an average altitude of 10,601 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 OMNI-M1’s average altitude, there are currently 1 active payload and 3 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 44.8°, OMNI-M1 passes over latitudes between 44.8°N and 44.8°S, covering the tropical and temperate zones where most of the world’s population resides. Low-to-mid inclination orbits are efficient to reach from equatorial and mid-latitude launch sites.