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COSMOS 2503 — Live Satellite Tracking (NORAD 40420)
Track COSMOS 2503 (NORAD catalog number 40420) live on the WatchSat interactive 3D globe above. Its position is propagated in real time from the latest CelesTrak two-line element set using the SGP4/SDP4 orbital model — the same math professional trackers run. It has been on orbit since 2015, launched on the 9th orbital launch of that year (COSPAR designation 2015-009A). As of this element set it had completed roughly 63,121 revolutions of Earth.
Moving at about 7.60 km/s, COSMOS 2503 flies in low Earth orbit at an altitude of roughly 542 × 564 km, completing one revolution every 95.6 minutes — about 15.1 trips around Earth per day. The orbit is essentially circular (eccentricity 0.0015). Its 97.8° retrograde, near-polar inclination is characteristic of a Sun-synchronous orbit — the type Earth-imaging and weather satellites use to revisit each spot at the same local solar time. Its orbital plane crosses the equator northbound at right ascension 307.8°. Earth's equatorial bulge precesses that plane eastward about 1.02° per day, matching the Sun's apparent motion — which is what holds its lighting constant.
Orbital elements
| Orbit regime | low Earth orbit (LEO) |
|---|---|
| Perigee × apogee altitude | ~542 km × 564 km |
| Inclination | 97.82° |
| Orbital period | 95.6 min (15.07 rev/day) |
| Eccentricity | 0.00155 |
| Element set epoch | 2026-09-06 |
| COSPAR designation | 2015-009A |
| NORAD catalog number | 40420 |
This page's orbital elements come from the CelesTrak catalog of 2026-09-08. The live 3D view above fetches its own current CelesTrak data when the page opens, through an edge cache that refreshes roughly every 30 minutes.
About the Other Active Satellites group
COSMOS 2503 is one of 4,471 active satellites in WatchSat's general catalog — the broad population of Earth-observation, communications, science, amateur-radio and technology spacecraft outside the giant broadband constellations. Browse all other active satellites live in 3D.
Can you see COSMOS 2503 from the ground?
Sometimes. Like most low-Earth-orbit spacecraft, COSMOS 2503 is visible only around dawn and dusk, when your sky is dark but the satellite is still sunlit — and whether you can spot it depends on its size and reflectivity. See pass predictions for your location for when it is above your horizon and sunlit.
Related satellites
Nearest catalog neighbors of COSMOS 2503 in the Other Active Satellites group — usually craft from the same or adjacent launches:
- ABS-3A (NORAD 40424)
- EUTELSAT 115 WEST B (NORAD 40425)
- INMARSAT 5-F2 (NORAD 40384)
- SMAP (NORAD 40376)
- MUOS-3 (NORAD 40374)
- FENGYUN 2G (NORAD 40367)
Browse the Other Active Satellites directory or the full satellite directory · What is a TLE? · WatchSat live globe