1QUESTION 1 OF 3
Answer & explanation
The official answer, with Fermi’s reasoning step by step.
Answer & explanation
Official answer
158,000
orbits
How to estimate it
Fermi’s official “Napkin math”
The easiest place to start is how long it's been up, about 28 years. How long is one lap of the planet? About 90 minutes, which works out to 16 laps a day.
- Years in orbit
- ~28
- Laps a day
- × 16
- Days a year
- × 365
- 28 × 16 × 365
- ≈ 160,000
Rounded assumptions may give a slightly different estimate. The official answer above is the game’s reference value.
Source calculation & reference
- 150,000th orbit (Roscosmos, via Interfax)
- 11 March 2025
- Days to 1 September 2026
- + 539
- Orbits a day (92.9-minute orbit)
- × 15.5
- 150,000 + 8,350
- ≈ 158,350
Reference cited by Fermi: Roscosmos, via Interfax, 2025
How close was your guess?
Your comparison will appear here.
Compare by ratio: divide the larger number by the smaller one. The closer to 1×, the better.