NAVSTAR 52 (USA 168)

NAVSTAR 52 (USA 168) is an active satellite operated by DoD/US Air Force (United States), launched on 2003-03-31 from Cape Canaveral, Florida on the Navstar GPS SVN 45 launch. With over 23 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 20,701 km and 20,717 km with an inclination of 54.8°. It travels at approximately 13,812 km/h (3.84 km/s), completing one full orbit every 12 hours 19 minutes — that’s roughly 1.95 orbits per day. It is part of the Gps Ops constellation group. Orbital Radar tracks NAVSTAR 52 (USA 168) in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

NAVSTAR 52 (USA 168) orbits at an average altitude of 20,709 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 NAVSTAR 52 (USA 168)’s average altitude, there are currently 2 active payloads and 5 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 54.8°, NAVSTAR 52 (USA 168) passes over latitudes between 54.8°N and 54.8°S, covering most populated land masses in both hemispheres. This mid-inclination band balances global coverage with efficient launch energy requirements. United States operates approximately 12,360 active satellites in total, of which 2 share a similar altitude band with NAVSTAR 52 (USA 168).