COSMOS 846

COSMOS 846 is an active satellite operated by Soviet Navy (Russia (CIS)), launched on 1976-07-29 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 945 km and 1,006 km with an inclination of 82.9°. It travels at approximately 26,517 km/h (7.37 km/s), completing one full orbit every 105 minutes — that’s roughly 13.77 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~100–500 years. Orbital Radar tracks COSMOS 846 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

COSMOS 846 orbits at an average altitude of 976 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 846’s average altitude, there are currently 421 active payloads and 1,184 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. With an inclination of 82.9°, COSMOS 846 passes over latitudes between 82.9°N and 82.9°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 202 share a similar altitude band with COSMOS 846.