VELA 9/10 INTERSTAGE

VELA 9/10 INTERSTAGE is an active satellite operated by United States, launched on 1969-05-23 from Cape Canaveral, Florida on the ERS 29 launch. After more than 57 years in orbit, it is one of the longest-surviving objects in the space catalogue. It orbits in Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO) at altitudes between 7,670 km and 120,993 km with an inclination of 17.6°. It travels at approximately 8,548 km/h (2.37 km/s), completing one full orbit every 52.0 hours — that’s roughly 0.46 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.8014 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. At geostationary altitude, there is no meaningful atmospheric drag — this object will remain in orbit indefinitely unless actively deorbited. Orbital Radar tracks VELA 9/10 INTERSTAGE in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

VELA 9/10 INTERSTAGE follows a Highly Elliptical Orbit, sweeping between 7,670 km (perigee) and 120,993 km (apogee). It spends most of its 52.0 hours orbital period near apogee, effectively loitering over a region of interest before rapidly sweeping through perigee — a profile used for high-latitude communications (Molniya orbits), early-warning systems and magnetospheric science. With an inclination of 17.6°, VELA 9/10 INTERSTAGE passes over latitudes between 17.6°N and 17.6°S, concentrating coverage over equatorial and near-equatorial regions. Low-inclination orbits maximise revisit rates over specific tropical zones. United States operates approximately 12,723 active satellites in total.