Overview
Most Polar satellites are launched for commercial use (67.3%) and for the purpose of communications (86.7%).
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Insights from the Polar satellite dataset
Which year saw the most Polar satellites launched?
Who operates or owns the most Polar satellites?
Which country operates or owns the most Polar satellites?
Which rocket has delivered the most Polar satellites to space?
Which launch site has launched the most Polar satellites to space?
Apogee, Perigee & Period
Satellite Mass
Highlights on some of the commercial satellites:
Designed for space science, ELFIN-A is a commercial and civil satellite operated by University of California (USA).
Delivered via Delta 2 (launch vehicle) from Vandenberg AFB, it was launched into space on 15 September 2018 and orbits the Earth as a polar LEO satellite. ELFIN-A was constructed by University of California (USA).
ELFIN-A has a launch mass of 4 kg and orbits around the Earth with the COSPAR ID 2018-070E and NORAD ID 43617.
Taking 94 minutes to orbit the Earth, the satellite's perigee, which is the point of the orbit closest to the Earth's center of mass, is 443km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 469km. The eccentricity of the orbit is 1.90E-03 and it orbits at an inclination of 93 degrees to the equatorial plane of the Earth.
Second heaviest satellite launched by Russia into space at 6,500 kg
Operated by Ministry of Defense of Russia, Cosmos 2550 is a military satellite launched for the purpose of earth observation (Radar Imaging and Electronic Intelligence).
Constructed by KB Arsenal, RKTs Progress (Russia), it was launched into space using Soyuz 2.1b as the launch vehicle on 25 June 2021. Cosmos 2550 orbits around the Earth as a polar LEO satellite.
Designed with an operational lifetime of 5 years, Cosmos 2550 has a launch mass of 6,500 kg and navigates with the COSPAR ID 2021-056A and NORAD ID 48865.
With an orbital eccentricity of 8.62E-04, the satellite's perigee, which is the point of the orbit closest to the Earth's center of mass, is 587km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 599km. It takes 96 minutes to orbit the Earth at an inclination of 35 degrees to the equatorial plane of the Earth.
Heaviest satellite launched by Iridium Communications, Inc. into space at 860 kg
Operated by Iridium Communications, Inc. of USA, Iridium Next 167 is a government and commercial satellite launched for the purpose of communications.
A polar LEO satellite, it was launched into space using Falcon 9 as the launch vehicle from Vandenberg AFB on 11 January 2019. Iridium Next 167 was constructed by Thales Alenia Space/Orbital ATK (France/Italy/USA).
With a launch mass of 860kg and a dry mass of 678kg, Iridium Next 167 is designed to operate in space for a lifetime of 15 years. It orbits around the Earth with the COSPAR ID 2019-002K and NORAD ID 43931.
Taking 97 minutes to orbit the Earth, the satellite's perigee, which is the point of the orbit closest to the Earth's center of mass, is 612km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 625km. The eccentricity of the orbit is 9.30E-04.
With generated usable power of 50 watts, Iridium Next 167 orbits at an inclination of 87 degrees to the equatorial plane of the Earth.
Operated by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of USA, Icesat-2 is a government satellite launched for the purpose of earth science (Laser Imaging).
Delivered via Delta 2 (launch vehicle) from Vandenberg AFB, it was launched into space on 15 September 2018 and orbits the Earth as a polar LEO satellite. Icesat-2 was constructed by Northrup Grumman Information Systems (USA).
Designed with an operational lifetime of 3 years, Icesat-2 has a launch mass of 1,515 kg and navigates with the COSPAR ID 2018-070A and NORAD ID 43613.
With an orbital eccentricity of 9.51E-04, the satellite's perigee, which is the point of the orbit closest to the Earth's center of mass, is 455km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 468km. It takes 94 minutes to orbit the Earth at an inclination of 93 degrees to the equatorial plane of the Earth.
Designed for earth observation (Radar Imaging), Cryosat-2 is a government satellite operated by European Space Agency (ESA) (ESA).
Constructed by EADS Astrium (France/UK/Germany/Spain), it was launched into space on 8 April 2010 using Dnepr as the launch vehicle from Baikonur Cosmodrome. Cryosat-2 orbits around the Earth as a polar LEO satellite.
Cryosat-2 has a launch mass of 720 kg and is expected to have a operational lifetime of 3 years. It navigates with the COSPAR ID 2010-013A and NORAD ID 36508.
With an orbital eccentricity of 7.76E-04, the satellite's perigee, which is the point of the orbit closest to the Earth's center of mass, is 713km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 724km. It takes 99 minutes to orbit the Earth at an inclination of 92 degrees to the equatorial plane of the Earth.
Heaviest satellite launched by OneWeb Satellites into space at 148 kg
A commercial satellite, OneWeb-0013 is operated by OneWeb Satellites of United Kingdom for the purpose of communications.
Delivered via Soyuz-2.1b (launch vehicle) from Baikonur Cosmodrome, it was launched into space on 6 February 2020 and orbits the Earth as a polar LEO satellite. OneWeb-0013 was constructed by OneWeb Satellites/Airbus (UK).
OneWeb-0013 has a launch mass of 148 kg and is expected to have a operational lifetime of 5 years. It navigates with the COSPAR ID 2020-008A and NORAD ID 45131.
With an orbital eccentricity of 3.29E-04, the satellite's perigee, which is the point of the orbit closest to the Earth's center of mass, is 1,215km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 1,220km. It takes 94 minutes to orbit the Earth at an inclination of 87 degrees to the equatorial plane of the Earth.
Get more insights from these satellite datasets
Full datasets: All satellites by launch date | The Heaviest Satellites That Are Launched to Space
By Use Type: Civil-use satellites | Commercial satellites | Government satellites | Military satellites
By Country: USA | UK | France | Germany | Japan | China | Russia | Australia | Canada
By Orbit Class/Type: LEO satellites | MEO satellites | GEO satellites | Elliptical orbit | Polar orbit | Equatorial orbit | Non-polar inclined orbit | Sun-synchronous orbit | Molniya orbit
By Operators: SpaceX | EUTELSAT | SES | European Space Agency (ESA) | Planet Labs | Iridium | Spire Global | OneWeb | Swarm Technologies | NASA - Dataset of Satellites Launched (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) | Canadian Space Agency (CSA) - Dataset of Satellites Launched
By Launch Vehicle: Falcon 9 | Ariane 5 | Ariane 5 ECA | Delta 2 | Dnepr | Electron | Falcon Heavy | Long March 2C | Long March 2D | Long March 3B | Pegasus | Proton | Proton M | PSLV | Rokot | Soyuz | Soyuz-2.1b | Vega
By Launch Vehicle: Cape Canaveral | Baikonur Cosmodrome | Guiana Space Center | International Space Station | Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center | Plesetsk Cosmodrome | Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 | Satish Dhawan Space Centre | Taiyuan Launch Center | Vandenberg AFB | Xichang Satellite Launch Center | Boeing Satellite Systems | Airbus Defense and Space | EADS Astrium | Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems | Space Systems/Loral | Surrey Satellite Technology | Technical University Berlin | Thales Alenia Space
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