COSMO-SKYMED 3

MilitaryLEOSSOPolarItaly

COSMO-SKYMED 3 is a military satellite, as listed in Jonathan McDowell's GCAT catalogue, with ownership listed as Italy in CelesTrak's catalogue, currently in low Earth orbit, around 541 km altitude. It completes one orbit of Earth roughly every 96 minutes at an inclination of 97.8°. It was launched in 2008. Track its live position and see when it passes over your location on azmth.

Orbital data

NORAD ID: 33412
COSPAR ID: 2008-054A
Type: Military
Orbit: LEO
Perigee (lowest): 541 km
Apogee (highest): 561 km
Inclination: 97.81°
Orbital period: 96 min
Launch year: 2008
Owner (CelesTrak): Italy

Orbital data updated: 2026-10-18 · from CelesTrak, refreshed every 2 hours.

Who operates it

ItalyLIVEMission ended 2 May 2022

Radar imaging

GCAT lists it as COSMO 3.

Independent assessment

GCAT classes it as a military satellite for radar imaging and records its mission as ended on 2 May 2022 (17 Oct 2026).

Data: GCAT · CC BY 4.0 Class, mission and status adapted from GCAT by Jonathan McDowell, CC BY 4.0, data update 17 Oct 2026.

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About LEO orbit

Low Earth Orbit. Up to 2,000 km altitude. Where most satellites live including the ISS (~420 km), Starlink (~550 km), and Earth observation. Orbital period roughly 90 minutes.