RADIO ROSTO (RS15)

RADIO ROSTO (RS15) is an active satellite operated by Russia (CIS), launched on 1994-12-26 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. With over 32 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 1,894 km and 2,151 km with an inclination of 64.8°. It travels at approximately 24,808 km/h (6.89 km/s), completing one full orbit every 2 hours 8 minutes — that’s roughly 11.28 orbits per day. It is part of the Amateur constellation group. Orbital Radar tracks RADIO ROSTO (RS15) in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

RADIO ROSTO (RS15) 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.