COSMOS 864

COSMOS 864 is an active satellite operated by Soviet Navy (Russia (CIS)), launched on 1976-10-29 from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia on the Parus 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 957 km and 1,002 km with an inclination of 82.9°. It travels at approximately 26,510 km/h (7.36 km/s), completing one full orbit every 105 minutes — that’s roughly 13.76 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~100–500 years. Orbital Radar tracks COSMOS 864 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

COSMOS 864 orbits at an average altitude of 980 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 864’s average altitude, there are currently 413 active payloads and 1,166 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. With an inclination of 82.9°, COSMOS 864 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 197 share a similar altitude band with COSMOS 864.