BLUE RING PATHFINDER

BLUE RING PATHFINDER is an active satellite operated by United States, launched on 2025-01-16 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. As a relatively recent addition to the catalogue, its orbital elements are well-characterised. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 2,402 km and 19,275 km with an inclination of 29.8°. It travels at approximately 17,326 km/h (4.81 km/s), completing one full orbit every 6 hours 15 minutes — that’s roughly 3.84 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.4902 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Orbital Radar tracks BLUE RING PATHFINDER in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

BLUE RING PATHFINDER orbits at an average altitude of 10,839 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 BLUE RING PATHFINDER’s average altitude, there are currently 2 active payloads and 4 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 29.8°, BLUE RING PATHFINDER passes over latitudes between 29.8°N and 29.8°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.