GRACE-FO 1

GRACE-FO 1 is an active satellite operated by NASA/German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) (United States), launched on 2018-05-22 from Vandenberg SFB, California. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 442 km and 461 km with an inclination of 89.0°. It travels at approximately 27,517 km/h (7.64 km/s), completing one full orbit every 94 minutes — that’s roughly 15.38 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~1–3 years. Orbital Radar tracks GRACE-FO 1 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

GRACE-FO 1 orbits at an average altitude of 452 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 GRACE-FO 1’s average altitude, there are currently 7,748 active payloads and 167 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 44.4% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 89.0°, GRACE-FO 1 passes over latitudes between 89.0°N and 89.0°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 12,360 active satellites in total, of which 7,347 share a similar altitude band with GRACE-FO 1.