DOUBLESTAR (TC-2)

DOUBLESTAR (TC-2) is an active satellite operated by China, launched on 2004-07-25 from Taiyuan, China on the Double Star DSP-P launch. With over 22 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 328 km and 31,351 km with an inclination of 87.9°. It travels at approximately 15,251 km/h (4.24 km/s), completing one full orbit every 9 hours 9 minutes — that’s roughly 2.62 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.6984 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Orbital Radar tracks DOUBLESTAR (TC-2) in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

DOUBLESTAR (TC-2) orbits at an average altitude of 15,840 km in Medium Earth Orbit, the region between LEO and GEO (2,000–35,786 km). MEO’s higher altitude gives each satellite a much larger ground footprint than LEO, meaning fewer spacecraft are needed for global coverage — but signal latency is higher and radiation from the Van Allen belts is a significant design constraint. Within ±50 km of DOUBLESTAR (TC-2)’s average altitude, there are currently 2 active payloads and 3 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. This is a relatively sparse altitude band, containing less than 1% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 87.9°, DOUBLESTAR (TC-2) passes over latitudes between 87.9°N and 87.9°S, providing near-global coverage including the polar regions. Polar and near-polar orbits are used for reconnaissance, weather monitoring and Earth-observation missions that need to image every part of the planet. China operates approximately 1,221 active satellites in total.