GEESAT 3-09

GEESAT 3-09 is an active satellite operated by China, launched on 2024-09-05 from Taiyuan, China. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 601 km and 632 km with an inclination of 50.0°. It travels at approximately 27,190 km/h (7.55 km/s), completing one full orbit every 97 minutes — that’s roughly 14.84 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~10–25 years. Orbital Radar tracks GEESAT 3-09 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

GEESAT 3-09 orbits at an average altitude of 617 km in the mid-LEO band, where atmospheric drag is minimal but radiation exposure remains manageable. Objects at this altitude persist for decades to centuries, making debris mitigation critical. This regime is popular for remote sensing constellations and scientific instruments that need stable, long-duration orbits. Within ±50 km of GEESAT 3-09’s average altitude, there are currently 1,550 active payloads and 745 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include ONEWEB-0050, STARLINK-3090, STARLINK-3077. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 8.9% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 50.0°, GEESAT 3-09 passes over latitudes between 50.0°N and 50.0°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. China operates approximately 1,219 active satellites in total, of which 135 share a similar altitude band with GEESAT 3-09.