COSMOS 2550

MilitaryLEORussia

COSMOS 2550 is a military satellite, as listed in Jonathan McDowell's GCAT catalogue, with ownership listed as Russia in CelesTrak's catalogue, currently in low Earth orbit, around 466 km altitude. It completes one orbit of Earth roughly every 94 minutes at an inclination of 67.1°. It was launched in 2021. Track its live position and see when it passes over your location on azmth.

Orbital data

NORAD ID: 48865
COSPAR ID: 2021-056A
Type: Military
Orbit: LEO
Perigee (lowest): 466 km
Apogee (highest): 477 km
Inclination: 67.14°
Orbital period: 94 min
Launch year: 2021
Owner (CelesTrak): Russia

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

Who operates it

RussiaLIVEActive

Signals intelligence

Independent assessment

GCAT classes it as a military satellite for signals intelligence and records it as active (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.

Military satellites, counted and explained →

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.