OBJECT A

OBJECT A (NORAD ID 68627) is a space object catalogued under United States, launched on 2026-04-07 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, United States on the STP-S29A launch. As a relatively recent addition to the catalogue, its orbital elements are well-characterised. Independent catalogue analysis identifies this object as ASTRA-HyRAX, attributed to Auburn U. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 463 km and 511 km with an inclination of 60.0°. It travels at approximately 27,446 km/h (7.62 km/s), completing one full orbit every 94 minutes — that’s roughly 15.26 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~1–3 years. Orbital Radar tracks OBJECT A in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

OBJECT A orbits at an average altitude of 487 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 OBJECT A’s average altitude, there are currently 10,725 active payloads and 209 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 56.6% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 60.0°, OBJECT A passes over latitudes between 60.0°N and 60.0°S, covering most populated land masses in both hemispheres. This mid-inclination band balances global coverage with efficient launch energy requirements. United States operates approximately 13,342 active satellites in total, of which 10,066 share a similar altitude band with OBJECT A.