COSMOS 706

COSMOS 706 is an active satellite operated by PVO (Russia (CIS)), launched on 1975-01-30 from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia on the Oko launch. After more than 51 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 2,039 km and 38,352 km with an inclination of 63.9°. It travels at approximately 13,945 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 0.6834 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Orbital Radar tracks COSMOS 706 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

COSMOS 706 orbits at an average altitude of 20,196 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 706’s average altitude, there are currently 108 active payloads and 15 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. With an inclination of 63.9°, COSMOS 706 passes over latitudes between 63.9°N and 63.9°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, of which 59 share a similar altitude band with COSMOS 706.