RISAT-2BR1

RISAT-2BR1 is an active satellite operated by Ministry of Defense (India), launched on 2019-12-11 from SRI. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 554 km and 570 km with an inclination of 37.0°. It travels at approximately 27,297 km/h (7.58 km/s), completing one full orbit every 96 minutes — that’s roughly 15.02 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~3–10 years. Orbital Radar tracks RISAT-2BR1 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

RISAT-2BR1 orbits at an average altitude of 562 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 RISAT-2BR1’s average altitude, there are currently 3,206 active payloads and 447 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include STARLINK-1184, STARLINK-1276, ONEWEB-0050. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 18.4% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 37.0°, RISAT-2BR1 passes over latitudes between 37.0°N and 37.0°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. India operates approximately 108 active satellites in total, of which 13 share a similar altitude band with RISAT-2BR1.