What is the oldest satellite still in orbit?

CALSPHERE 2, launched 6 October 1964, is the oldest object this catalog holds.

Catalog as of 2026-08-15 12:30 UTC · page generated 2026-08-22

The catalog has not refreshed in over 48 hours, so this figure is older than it should be.

The breakdown

NORAD ID

The five earliest launch dates in the catalog, oldest first.

What this number is not

This is the oldest object in this catalog, not the oldest object in orbit. The catalog is built from CelesTrak’s active list, so an old satellite still in orbit but no longer carried on that list is not held here at all. Vanguard 1, launched in 1958, is the clearest case: it is still up there, CelesTrak still publishes a current element set for it, and it is missing from this count for that reason.
Oldest still tracked, not oldest ever launched. Anything that has reentered is gone.
Very early objects are small and inert. Being in orbit is not the same as being a working satellite.

How it is computed, and how it is checked

The earliest launch date among active payloads with a current orbital element set. The catalog is built from CelesTrak’s active list, so that list is what "still tracked" means here.

Postgres is asked, separately, how many active payloads it holds with a launch date earlier than the published year. That count has to be zero, and the figure is withheld if it is not. It is a real check on the answer rather than the answer restated, but it can only see inside this catalog, which is the limitation the caveats describe.

Older-object check today: 0 active payloads in this catalog carry a launch date before 1964, so nothing older is being missed inside the catalog.

Where the underlying data comes from is on the methodology page, field by field on sources.

Cite this

OrbitalWiki (2026). What is the oldest satellite still in orbit? Retrieved 2026-08-22 from https://www.orbitalwiki.com/statistics/oldest-satellite-still-in-orbit

The retrieval date matters: this number changes every six hours.