NVS-02

NVS-02 is an active satellite operated by India, launched on 2025-01-29 from SRI. As a relatively recent addition to the catalogue, its orbital elements are well-characterised. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 285 km and 37,209 km with an inclination of 20.7°. It travels at approximately 14,341 km/h (3.98 km/s), completing one full orbit every 11 hours 1 minutes — that’s roughly 2.18 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.7350 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Orbital Radar tracks NVS-02 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

NVS-02 orbits at an average altitude of 18,747 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 NVS-02’s average altitude, there are currently 1 active payload and 8 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 20.7°, NVS-02 passes over latitudes between 20.7°N and 20.7°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. India operates approximately 108 active satellites in total.