COSMOS 890

COSMOS 890 is an active satellite operated by Soviet Navy (Russia (CIS)), launched on 1977-01-20 from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia on the Zaliv launch. With over 49 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 974 km and 1,011 km with an inclination of 83.0°. It travels at approximately 26,487 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 890 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

COSMOS 890 orbits at an average altitude of 993 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 890’s average altitude, there are currently 376 active payloads and 1,092 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. With an inclination of 83.0°, COSMOS 890 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 188 share a similar altitude band with COSMOS 890.