KORONAS-FOTON

KORONAS-FOTON is an active satellite operated by Russia (CIS), launched on 2009-01-30 from PKMTR. After 17 years in orbit, it continues to be tracked by global surveillance networks. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 421 km and 437 km with an inclination of 82.4°. It travels at approximately 27,562 km/h (7.66 km/s), completing one full orbit every 93 minutes — that’s roughly 15.46 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~1–3 years. Orbital Radar tracks KORONAS-FOTON in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

KORONAS-FOTON orbits at an average altitude of 429 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 KORONAS-FOTON’s average altitude, there are currently 4,315 active payloads and 141 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include STARLINK-1008, STARLINK-1012, STARLINK-1017. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 24.8% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 82.4°, KORONAS-FOTON passes over latitudes between 82.4°N and 82.4°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. Russia (CIS) operates approximately 1,285 active satellites in total, of which 44 share a similar altitude band with KORONAS-FOTON.