LAGEOS 2

LAGEOS 2 is an active satellite operated by Italy, launched on 1992-10-22 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. With over 34 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 5,616 km and 5,951 km with an inclination of 52.7°. It travels at approximately 20,616 km/h (5.73 km/s), completing one full orbit every 3 hours 42 minutes — that’s roughly 6.47 orbits per day. It is part of the Geodetic constellation group. Orbital Radar tracks LAGEOS 2 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

LAGEOS 2 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.