MONOLITH

MONOLITH is an active satellite operated by Air Force Research Laboratory (United States), launched on 2021-07-29 from RLLC. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 536 km and 541 km with an inclination of 37.0°. It travels at approximately 27,343 km/h (7.60 km/s), completing one full orbit every 95 minutes — that’s roughly 15.09 orbits per day. Its near-circular orbit (eccentricity close to zero) means it maintains a very consistent altitude throughout each revolution. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~3–10 years. Orbital Radar tracks MONOLITH in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

MONOLITH orbits at an average altitude of 539 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 MONOLITH’s average altitude, there are currently 3,496 active payloads and 325 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include STARLINK-1184, STARLINK-1276, STARLINK-1451. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 20.1% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 37.0°, MONOLITH 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. United States operates approximately 12,339 active satellites in total, of which 2,823 share a similar altitude band with MONOLITH.