COSMOS 546

COSMOS 546 is an active satellite operated by OKB-10 (Russia (CIS)), launched on 1973-01-26 from Kapustin Yar, Russia on the Tsiklon GVM launch. After more than 53 years in orbit, it is one of the longest-surviving objects in the space catalogue. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 464 km and 484 km with an inclination of 50.6°. It travels at approximately 27,472 km/h (7.63 km/s), completing one full orbit every 94 minutes — that’s roughly 15.31 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~1–3 years. Orbital Radar tracks COSMOS 546 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

COSMOS 546 orbits at an average altitude of 474 km in the core of Low Earth Orbit, the most heavily utilised altitude band. The balance of moderate drag (limiting debris accumulation) and short signal path (enabling low-latency links and high-resolution imaging) makes this regime the default for most commercial and government missions. Within ±50 km of COSMOS 546’s average altitude, there are currently 10,705 active payloads and 191 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include STARLINK-1017, STARLINK-1039, STARLINK-1047. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 56.7% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 50.6°, COSMOS 546 passes over latitudes between 50.6°N and 50.6°S, covering most populated land masses in both hemispheres. This mid-inclination band balances global coverage with efficient launch energy requirements. Russia (CIS) operates approximately 1,553 active satellites in total, of which 72 share a similar altitude band with COSMOS 546.