COSMOS 606

COSMOS 606 is an active satellite operated by PVO (Russia (CIS)), launched on 1973-11-02 from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia on the Oko launch. After more than 53 years in orbit, it is one of the longest-surviving objects in the space catalogue. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 6,776 km and 33,617 km with an inclination of 73.1°. It travels at approximately 13,944 km/h (3.87 km/s), completing one full orbit every 11 hours 59 minutes — that’s roughly 2.00 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.5051 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Orbital Radar tracks COSMOS 606 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

COSMOS 606 orbits at an average altitude of 20,197 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 COSMOS 606’s average altitude, there are currently 103 active payloads and 17 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include GPS BIII-8 (PRN 21), GPS BIII-10 (PRN 13). With an inclination of 73.1°, COSMOS 606 passes over latitudes between 73.1°N and 73.1°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 1,527 active satellites in total, of which 54 share a similar altitude band with COSMOS 606.