COSMOS 1989 (ETALON 1)

COSMOS 1989 (ETALON 1) is an active satellite operated by Russia (CIS), launched on 1989-01-10 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. With over 37 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 19,066 km and 19,185 km with an inclination of 64.9°. It travels at approximately 14,234 km/h (3.95 km/s), completing one full orbit every 11 hours 16 minutes — that’s roughly 2.13 orbits per day. It is part of the Geodetic constellation group. Orbital Radar tracks COSMOS 1989 (ETALON 1) in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

COSMOS 1989 (ETALON 1) operates in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), the region between LEO and GEO spanning roughly 2,000 to 35,786 km altitude. MEO is home to navigation constellations (GPS at ~20,200 km, Galileo at ~23,222 km, GLONASS at ~19,130 km) and some communications systems. The higher altitude gives each satellite a much larger ground footprint than LEO, meaning fewer satellites are needed for global coverage, but signal latency is higher and radiation exposure — particularly from the Van Allen belts — is a significant design challenge.