ELEKTRON 1

ELEKTRON 1 is an active satellite operated by OKB-1 (Russia (CIS)), launched on 1964-01-30 from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on the 2D No. 1 launch. After more than 62 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 403 km and 6,207 km with an inclination of 60.9°. It travels at approximately 23,106 km/h (6.42 km/s), completing one full orbit every 2 hours 38 minutes — that’s roughly 9.11 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.2999 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Orbital Radar tracks ELEKTRON 1 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

ELEKTRON 1 orbits at an average altitude of 3,305 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 ELEKTRON 1’s average altitude, there are currently 3 active payloads and 6 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 60.9°, ELEKTRON 1 passes over latitudes between 60.9°N and 60.9°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.