PROBA-3 OSC

PROBA-3 OSC is an active satellite operated by ESA (European Space Agency), launched on 2024-12-05 from SRI. It orbits in Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO) at altitudes between 1,008 km and 60,199 km with an inclination of 59.7°. It travels at approximately 11,820 km/h (3.28 km/s), completing one full orbit every 19 hours 40 minutes — that’s roughly 1.22 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.8004 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Orbital Radar tracks PROBA-3 OSC in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

PROBA-3 OSC follows a Highly Elliptical Orbit, sweeping between 1,008 km (perigee) and 60,199 km (apogee). It spends most of its 19 hours 40 minutes 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. Within ±50 km of PROBA-3 OSC’s average altitude, there are currently 2 active payloads and 0 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 59.7°, PROBA-3 OSC passes over latitudes between 59.7°N and 59.7°S, covering most populated land masses in both hemispheres. This mid-inclination band balances global coverage with efficient launch energy requirements. ESA (European Space Agency) operates approximately 93 active satellites in total, of which 2 share a similar altitude band with PROBA-3 OSC.