TELSTAR 2 (A-41)

TELSTAR 2 (A-41) is an active satellite operated by AT&T (United States), launched on 1963-05-07 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, United States on the Telstar 2 launch. After more than 63 years in orbit, it is one of the longest-surviving objects in the space catalogue. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 968 km and 10,802 km with an inclination of 42.7°. It travels at approximately 20,530 km/h (5.70 km/s), completing one full orbit every 3 hours 45 minutes — that’s roughly 6.39 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.4012 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Orbital Radar tracks TELSTAR 2 (A-41) in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

TELSTAR 2 (A-41) orbits at an average altitude of 5,885 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 TELSTAR 2 (A-41)’s average altitude, there are currently 4 active payloads and 7 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 42.7°, TELSTAR 2 (A-41) passes over latitudes between 42.7°N and 42.7°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 13,279 active satellites in total, of which 3 share a similar altitude band with TELSTAR 2 (A-41).