MAQSAT/ARIANE 5

MAQSAT/ARIANE 5 is an active satellite operated by France, launched on 2005-02-12 from Guiana Space Centre, Kourou. With over 21 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 256 km and 31,374 km with an inclination of 7.2°. It travels at approximately 15,259 km/h (4.24 km/s), completing one full orbit every 9 hours 8 minutes — that’s roughly 2.63 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.7013 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Orbital Radar tracks MAQSAT/ARIANE 5 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

MAQSAT/ARIANE 5 orbits at an average altitude of 15,815 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 MAQSAT/ARIANE 5’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 7.2°, MAQSAT/ARIANE 5 passes over latitudes between 7.2°N and 7.2°S, concentrating coverage over equatorial and near-equatorial regions. Low-inclination orbits maximise revisit rates over specific tropical zones. France operates approximately 115 active satellites in total.