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COSMOS 2540 — Live Satellite Tracking (NORAD 44517)
Track COSMOS 2540 (NORAD catalog number 44517) 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 2019, launched on the 57th orbital launch of that year (COSPAR designation 2019-057A). As of this element set it had completed roughly 35,524 revolutions of Earth.
Moving at about 7.39 km/s, COSMOS 2540 flies in low Earth orbit at an altitude of roughly 939 × 961 km, completing one revolution every 103.9 minutes — about 13.9 trips around Earth per day. The orbit is essentially circular (eccentricity 0.0015). Its 99.2° 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 260.4°. Earth's equatorial bulge precesses that plane eastward about 0.98° 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 | ~939 km × 961 km |
| Inclination | 99.21° |
| Orbital period | 103.9 min (13.86 rev/day) |
| Eccentricity | 0.00149 |
| Element set epoch | 2026-09-07 |
| COSPAR designation | 2019-057A |
| NORAD catalog number | 44517 |
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 2540 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 2540 from the ground?
Sometimes. Like most low-Earth-orbit spacecraft, COSMOS 2540 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 2540 in the Other Active Satellites group — usually craft from the same or adjacent launches:
- KX-09 (NORAD 44520)
- ZY-1 02D (NORAD 44528)
- BNU-1 (JINGSHI 1) (NORAD 44529)
- TAURUS-1 (JINNIUZUO 1) (NORAD 44530)
- GLOBAL-4 (NORAD 44499)
- ZHUHAI-1 03B (NORAD 44536)
Browse the Other Active Satellites directory or the full satellite directory · What is a TLE? · WatchSat live globe