COSMOS 800

COSMOS 800 is an active satellite operated by Soviet Navy (Russia (CIS)), launched on 1976-02-03 from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia on the Zaliv launch. After more than 50 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 976 km and 1,007 km with an inclination of 83.0°. It travels at approximately 26,489 km/h (7.36 km/s), completing one full orbit every 105 minutes — that’s roughly 13.72 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~100–500 years. Orbital Radar tracks COSMOS 800 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

COSMOS 800 orbits at an average altitude of 992 km in the upper LEO band, where atmospheric drag is negligible and objects can persist for centuries to millennia. This altitude is used by broadband constellations like OneWeb and by scientific missions requiring stable orbits far from the densest debris bands. Within ±50 km of COSMOS 800’s average altitude, there are currently 391 active payloads and 1,096 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. With an inclination of 83.0°, COSMOS 800 passes over latitudes between 83.0°N and 83.0°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. Russia (CIS) operates approximately 1,553 active satellites in total, of which 191 share a similar altitude band with COSMOS 800.