COSMOS 2518

COSMOS 2518 is an active satellite operated by Ministry of Defense (Russia (CIS)), launched on 2017-05-25 from PKMTR. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 1,657 km and 38,661 km with an inclination of 63.0°. It travels at approximately 13,954 km/h (3.88 km/s), completing one full orbit every 11 hours 57 minutes — that’s roughly 2.01 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.6974 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Orbital Radar tracks COSMOS 2518 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

COSMOS 2518 orbits at an average altitude of 20,159 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 COSMOS 2518’s average altitude, there are currently 104 active payloads and 12 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include GPS BIIR-5 (PRN 22), GPS BIIR-8 (PRN 16), GPS BIIR-11 (PRN 19). With an inclination of 63.0°, COSMOS 2518 passes over latitudes between 63.0°N and 63.0°S, covering most populated land masses in both hemispheres. This mid-inclination band balances global coverage with efficient launch energy requirements. Russia (CIS) operates approximately 1,286 active satellites in total, of which 57 share a similar altitude band with COSMOS 2518.