Est. Orbital LifetimeEffectively permanent — above atmospheric drag
🚀 Launch & Identity
Country / Operator
New ICO
Launch Date
2001-06-19
Launch Site
Cape Canaveral, Florida
Int'l Designator
2001-026A
Object Type
Payload
RCS Size
Large (>1 m²)
📖 About This Object
OMNI-M1 is an active satellite operated by New ICO, launched on 2001-06-19 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. With over 25 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 10,571 km and 10,631 km with an inclination of 44.9°. It travels at approximately 17,446 km/h (4.85 km/s), completing one full orbit every 6 hours 7 minutes — that’s roughly 3.92 orbits per day. Orbital Radar tracks OMNI-M1 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.
🌍 Orbit Context
OMNI-M1 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.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
OMNI-M1 orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 10,571 km (perigee) and 10,631 km (apogee), with an average altitude of approximately 10,601 km. It completes one orbit every 6 hours 7 minutes, travelling at approximately 17,446 km/h (10,841 mph).
OMNI-M1 is operated by New ICO. It is catalogued by the U.S. Space Surveillance Network under NORAD ID 26857. You can track OMNI-M1 in real time on Orbital Radar’s live tracker.
OMNI-M1 was launched on 2001-06-19 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, one of the busiest launch facilities in the world, operated by NASA and the U.S. Space Force on Florida’s Atlantic coast.
Yes — Orbital Radar tracks OMNI-M1 (NORAD ID 26857) using the latest TLE (two-line element set) data from Space-Track and CelesTrak. Open the live tracker to see its current position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated in real time.
OMNI-M1 travels at approximately 17,446 km/h (10,841 mph) — roughly 4.85 km/s. It completes 3.92 orbits per day, meaning the crew or instruments aboard (if any) would experience approximately 8 sunrises and sunsets every 24 hours.