NOAA 4

NOAA 4 is an active satellite operated by NOAA (United States), launched on 1974-11-15 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, United States on the ITOS G launch. After more than 52 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 1,444 km and 1,458 km with an inclination of 102.0°. It travels at approximately 25,699 km/h (7.14 km/s), completing one full orbit every 115 minutes — that’s roughly 12.53 orbits per day. Its near-circular orbit (eccentricity close to zero) means it maintains a very consistent altitude throughout each revolution. It is part of the Weather constellation group. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is thousands of years. Orbital Radar tracks NOAA 4 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

NOAA 4 orbits at an average altitude of 1,451 km in the uppermost reaches of Low Earth Orbit. At this altitude, orbital decay is effectively zero without active deorbiting, and coverage footprints are significantly larger than lower LEO, though at the cost of higher latency. Within ±50 km of NOAA 4’s average altitude, there are currently 567 active payloads and 362 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. With an inclination of 102.0°, NOAA 4 passes over latitudes between 102.0°N and 102.0°S, providing near-global coverage including the polar regions. Polar and near-polar orbits are used for reconnaissance, weather monitoring and Earth-observation missions that need to image every part of the planet. United States operates approximately 13,279 active satellites in total, of which 17 share a similar altitude band with NOAA 4.