COSMOS 708

COSMOS 708 is an active satellite operated by VTS SA (Russia (CIS)), launched on 1975-02-12 from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia on the Geoid launch. After more than 51 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 1,369 km and 1,409 km with an inclination of 69.2°. It travels at approximately 25,801 km/h (7.17 km/s), completing one full orbit every 114 minutes — that’s roughly 12.68 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is thousands of years. Orbital Radar tracks COSMOS 708 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

COSMOS 708 orbits at an average altitude of 1,389 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 COSMOS 708’s average altitude, there are currently 261 active payloads and 253 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. With an inclination of 69.2°, COSMOS 708 passes over latitudes between 69.2°N and 69.2°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 214 share a similar altitude band with COSMOS 708.