Molniya-1S

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Link to this page

https://orbinauts.com/satellites/7392

  • Communications satellite
  • Military
  • MOLNIYA 1-S
  • NORAD 7392
  • 1974-060A
  • Geostationary

Current orbit

Where Molniya-1S is on the world map, with the orbit it is flying
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One orbit takes a day, as long as the Earth takes to turn, so Molniya-1S keeps above 95° E of the equator and never crosses the sky.

Past trackNext orbits

It never rises or sets

Molniya-1S turns with the Earth, standing over one longitude of the equator. From anywhere it can be seen at all it is up day and night, in the same direction, so there is no pass to wait for.

No brightness has been published for Molniya-1S, so it is not a naked-eye satellite and no city page carries pass times for it. Nothing here estimates one.

Seeing it

There is nothing to wait for: it never crosses the sky. From the half of the Earth it stands over it keeps the same point day and night, and from the other half it never rises at all.

Timeline

  1. Launch

    Launched, on the day GCAT records. Source

  2. Close approach

    On Friday, Oct 16 at 10:28 PM UTC, Raduga 3 (NORAD 10159) was to pass within 5.0 km of Molniya 1-S (NORAD 7392).

Summary

Over the Indian Ocean LIVE

Where is Molniya-1S?

At 8:25:30 PM UTC Molniya-1S was over the Indian Ocean (0.5° S, 95° E), 35,806 km up, standing over one longitude of the equator and in sunlight.

What is Molniya-1S?

A communications satellite in geostationary orbit, in space since Jul 29, 1974.

Can I see Molniya-1S?

No, not with the naked eye, and it never crosses the sky: Molniya-1S stands over 95° E of the equator; the dishes and receivers on the ground use its signals instead.

General

Operator
Main Space Forces Directorate
State
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Built by
OKB-10 (Reshetnev)
What it is
Communications satellite
Military
Yes: a defence organisation flies it
Launched
Mass
about 1.7 t
Operating
No: its regular operations have ended
Orbit class
Geostationary

From GCAT, Jonathan McDowell’s general catalogue, licensed CC BY 4.0: the operator, the state, the manufacturer, what it is for, that a defence organisation flies it, the launch day, the mass, and whether it is operating. The orbit class is read from its current elements.

Latest orbital data

Position received
8:25 PM UTC
Station time (UTC)
8:25 PM UTC
Latitude / longitude
0.5° S, 95° E
Altitude
35,806 km
Speed
3.07 km/s (11,066 km/h)
Course
Stands over 95° E
Light
In sunlight
Inclination
1°
Orbital period
1,436.9 minutes
Orbits per day
1
This orbit
35,767 to 35,841 km
In view from
Within 7,940 km of the point below it
Elements epoch
Nov 8, 2026, 7:59 AM, 12 hours old
Source
Position from Space-Track orbital elements of Nov 8, 2026, 7:59 AM, 12 hours old.

No operator publishes an ephemeris for Molniya-1S, so every position here comes from its orbital elements.

In orbit

Close approaches
1 reported. No close approach to Molniya-1S is reported for the next three days.

From Space-Track’s public conjunction messages; the latest report was issued Nov 8, 2026, 1:11 PM, 3 hours old. Only approaches serious enough to be reported publicly are listed: within three days and, for two bodies near the Earth, closer than a kilometre with a chance of a collision above 1 in 10,000, the level at which NASA moves the ISS.

See every close approach reported in orbit.

Launched with

Molniya-1S shares its launch, 1974-060, with 2 other bodies the catalogue lists in orbit.

BodyWhat it is
SL-12 R/B(AUX MOTOR)Rocket body
SL-12 R/B(2)Rocket body

Read from the international designators of the US catalogue: the year and the launch number every piece of one launch shares. A body that has come down is no longer listed.

Beside the others

SatelliteTypical altitudeOrbital periodMassIn space since
Molniya-1S35,767 to 35,841 km1,437 minutesabout 1.7 t1974
Hispasat 30W-635,786 to 35,786 km1,436 minutesabout 6.1 t2018
Amazonas Nexus35,786 to 35,786 km1,436 minutesabout 4.1 t2023
ARSAT-135,786 to 35,786 km1,436 minutesabout 3 t2014
Astra 1N35,786 to 35,786 km1,436 minutesabout 5.3 t2011
Hotbird 13F35,786 to 35,786 km1,436 minutesabout 4.5 t2022

Data and API

The current elements from Space-Track as an OMM object, epoch Nov 8, 2026, 7:59 AM, 12 hours old.

{
  "OBJECT_NAME": "MOLNIYA 1-S",
  "OBJECT_ID": "1974-060A",
  "EPOCH": "2026-11-08T07:59:33.354816",
  "MEAN_MOTION": 1.0021503,
  "ECCENTRICITY": 0.00087806,
  "INCLINATION": 1.0329,
  "RA_OF_ASC_NODE": 241.7811,
  "ARG_OF_PERICENTER": 303.4213,
  "MEAN_ANOMALY": 77.4052,
  "EPHEMERIS_TYPE": 0,
  "CLASSIFICATION_TYPE": "U",
  "NORAD_CAT_ID": 7392,
  "ELEMENT_SET_NO": 999,
  "REV_AT_EPOCH": 13562,
  "BSTAR": 0,
  "MEAN_MOTION_DOT": -0.00000252,
  "MEAN_MOTION_DDOT": 0
}