PODSAT

PODSAT is an active satellite operated by DARPA (United States), launched on 2018-03-06 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, United States on the Hispasat 30W-6 launch. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 193 km and 6,936 km with an inclination of 26.8°. It travels at approximately 22,802 km/h (6.33 km/s), completing one full orbit every 2 hours 44 minutes — that’s roughly 8.76 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.3393 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Orbital Radar tracks PODSAT in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

PODSAT orbits at an average altitude of 3,565 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 PODSAT’s average altitude, there are currently 1 active payload and 12 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 26.8°, PODSAT passes over latitudes between 26.8°N and 26.8°S, covering the tropical and temperate zones where most of the world’s population resides. Low-to-mid inclination orbits are efficient to reach from equatorial and mid-latitude launch sites. United States operates approximately 13,340 active satellites in total.