COSMOS 2590

COSMOS 2590 is an active satellite operated by Russia (CIS), launched on 2025-06-19 from PKMTR on the 14F166A No. 1 launch. As a relatively recent addition to the catalogue, its orbital elements are well-characterised. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 20,397 km and 51,199 km with an inclination of 0.5°. It travels at approximately 11,068 km/h (3.07 km/s), completing one full orbit every ~24 hours (geosynchronous) — that’s roughly 1.00 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.3652 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. At geostationary altitude, there is no meaningful atmospheric drag — this object will remain in orbit indefinitely unless actively deorbited. Orbital Radar tracks COSMOS 2590 in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

COSMOS 2590 orbits at an average altitude of 35,798 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 COSMOS 2590’s average altitude, there are currently 713 active payloads and 63 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include ASTRA 1N, GOES 16, TDRS 13. With an inclination of 0.5°, COSMOS 2590 passes over latitudes between 0.5°N and 0.5°S, concentrating coverage over equatorial and near-equatorial regions. Low-inclination orbits maximise revisit rates over specific tropical zones. Russia (CIS) operates approximately 1,287 active satellites in total, of which 124 share a similar altitude band with COSMOS 2590.