INTEGRAL

INTEGRAL is an active satellite operated by European Space Operations Centre (ESOC)/NASA/Russia (ESA (European Space Agency)), launched on 2002-10-17 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. With over 24 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO) at altitudes between 4,185 km and 145,287 km with an inclination of 89.9°. It travels at approximately 7,981 km/h (2.22 km/s), completing one full orbit every 63.9 hours — that’s roughly 0.38 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.8699 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 INTEGRAL in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

INTEGRAL follows a Highly Elliptical Orbit, sweeping between 4,185 km (perigee) and 145,287 km (apogee). It spends most of its 63.9 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 89.9°, INTEGRAL passes over latitudes between 89.9°N and 89.9°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.