CLUSTER II-FM7 (SAMBA)

CLUSTER II-FM7 (SAMBA) is an active satellite operated by ESA (European Space Agency), launched on 2000-07-16 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. With over 26 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO) at altitudes between 1,404 km and 130,082 km with an inclination of 149.1°. It travels at approximately 8,464 km/h (2.35 km/s), completing one full orbit every 53.5 hours — that’s roughly 0.45 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.8922 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. It is part of the Geo Protected Plus constellation group. At geostationary altitude, there is no meaningful atmospheric drag — this object will remain in orbit indefinitely unless actively deorbited. Orbital Radar tracks CLUSTER II-FM7 (SAMBA) in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

CLUSTER II-FM7 (SAMBA) follows a Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO), which sweeps between a low-altitude perigee and a very high apogee. HEO satellites spend most of their orbital period near apogee, moving slowly at high altitude — effectively loitering over a region of interest. This makes HEO ideal for high-latitude communications (Molniya and Tundra orbits), early-warning missile detection (SBIRS), and space science missions that need to sample different regions of the magnetosphere. The large difference between perigee (1,404 km) and apogee (130,082 km) for this object illustrates the characteristic elliptical shape.