PHASE 3D (AO-40)

PHASE 3D (AO-40) is an active satellite operated by Germany, launched on 2000-11-16 from Guiana Space Centre, Kourou. With over 26 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO) at altitudes between 1,086 km and 58,735 km with an inclination of 9.6°. It travels at approximately 11,932 km/h (3.31 km/s), completing one full orbit every 19 hours 7 minutes — that’s roughly 1.26 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.7945 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. It is part of the Geo Protected Plus constellation group. Orbital Radar tracks PHASE 3D (AO-40) in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

PHASE 3D (AO-40) 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 (1,086 km) and apogee (58,735 km) for this object illustrates the characteristic elliptical shape.