XSS 10

XSS 10 is an active satellite operated by United States, launched on 2003-01-29 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. With over 23 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 495 km and 699 km with an inclination of 39.8°. It travels at approximately 27,228 km/h (7.56 km/s), completing one full orbit every 97 minutes — that’s roughly 14.90 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~3–10 years. Orbital Radar tracks XSS 10 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

XSS 10 orbits at an average altitude of 597 km in the core of Low Earth Orbit, the most heavily utilised altitude band. The balance of moderate drag (limiting debris accumulation) and short signal path (enabling low-latency links and high-resolution imaging) makes this regime the default for most commercial and government missions. Within ±50 km of XSS 10’s average altitude, there are currently 2,112 active payloads and 638 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include ONEWEB-0050, STARLINK-3005, STARLINK-3090. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 12.1% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 39.8°, XSS 10 passes over latitudes between 39.8°N and 39.8°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. United States operates approximately 12,339 active satellites in total, of which 1,565 share a similar altitude band with XSS 10.