COSMOS 981

COSMOS 981 is an active satellite operated by Russia (CIS), launched on 1978-01-10 from PKMTR. With over 48 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 1,463 km and 1,495 km with an inclination of 74.0°. It travels at approximately 25,653 km/h (7.13 km/s), completing one full orbit every 116 minutes — that’s roughly 12.46 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is thousands of years. Orbital Radar tracks COSMOS 981 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

COSMOS 981 orbits in the upper reaches of Low Earth Orbit, above 1,000 km. At this altitude, atmospheric drag is negligible and objects can remain in orbit for thousands of years without active deorbiting. This region is used by satellite broadband constellations like OneWeb and by scientific missions that need stable, long-duration orbits away from the densest debris bands. The high inclination typical at this altitude provides near-global coverage.