RISAT-2BR2

RISAT-2BR2 is an active satellite operated by Ministry of Defense (India), launched on 2020-11-07 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India on the PSLV Rideshare 17 launch. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 555 km and 574 km with an inclination of 36.9°. It travels at approximately 27,292 km/h (7.58 km/s), completing one full orbit every 96 minutes — that’s roughly 15.01 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~3–10 years. Orbital Radar tracks RISAT-2BR2 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

RISAT-2BR2 orbits at an average altitude of 565 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-2BR2’s average altitude, there are currently 1,480 active payloads and 502 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include ONEWEB-0050, STARLINK-1522, STARLINK-2112. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 7.9% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 36.9°, RISAT-2BR2 passes over latitudes between 36.9°N and 36.9°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 109 active satellites in total, of which 13 share a similar altitude band with RISAT-2BR2.