OV1-13

OV1-13 is an active satellite operated by USAF OAR (United States), launched on 1968-04-06 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, United States on the OV1-13 launch. After more than 58 years in orbit, it is one of the longest-surviving objects in the space catalogue. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 546 km and 9,233 km with an inclination of 100.0°. It travels at approximately 21,419 km/h (5.95 km/s), completing one full orbit every 3 hours 18 minutes — that’s roughly 7.26 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.3857 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Orbital Radar tracks OV1-13 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

OV1-13 orbits at an average altitude of 4,890 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 OV1-13’s average altitude, there are currently 1 active payload and 4 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 100.0°, OV1-13 passes over latitudes between 100.0°N and 100.0°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 States operates approximately 13,279 active satellites in total.