UK-DMC

UK-DMC is an active satellite operated by United Kingdom, launched on 2003-09-27 from PKMTR. With over 23 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 570 km and 644 km with an inclination of 98.1°. It travels at approximately 27,209 km/h (7.56 km/s), completing one full orbit every 97 minutes — that’s roughly 14.87 orbits per day. Its near-polar, sun-synchronous orbit means it passes over any given point on Earth at approximately the same local solar time, ideal for consistent Earth observation lighting conditions. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~10–25 years. Orbital Radar tracks UK-DMC in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

UK-DMC orbits at an average altitude of 607 km in a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), a specialised subset of LEO where the orbital plane precesses to maintain a constant angle relative to the Sun. This provides consistent lighting conditions on every pass — essential for Earth observation, weather monitoring and environmental science. Within ±50 km of UK-DMC’s average altitude, there are currently 1,627 active payloads and 692 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 9.3% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 98.1°, UK-DMC passes over latitudes between 98.1°N and 98.1°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. United Kingdom operates approximately 720 active satellites in total, of which 17 share a similar altitude band with UK-DMC.