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CAT 3, 12546

Orbit data source: Space-Track

CAT 3, 12546 is a payload satellite owned by ESA (ESA) in HEO that was launched on Fri, 19 Jun 1981 UTC via an ARIANE 1 launch vehicle from the French Guiana (FRGUI). Payload-class satellites include a variety of spacecraft equipped with specific instruments for various scientific and technological missions. These include communications satellites like Starlink; space stations such as the ISS; scientific satellites like the Hubble; Earth observation satellites from companies like Planet Labs, Umbra, and HawkEye 360; GPS; miniature CubeSats for education and research; and military/defense satellites.

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<iframe src="https://www.satcat.com/sats-embedded/12546?theme=dark&initialShowStats=false" width="600" height="400" frameborder="0" title="Kayhan Space Satcat Satellite Viewer"></iframe>

Iframe URL

https://www.satcat.com/sats-embedded/12546?theme=dark&initialShowStats=false

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ISO8601 Format

Identifier

12546, 1981-057C

Orbit

HEO

Country

ESA

Related business

European Space Agency (FR)

Manufacturer

AERIT/CNEST

Mission

Non-operational spacecraft

Bus & Motor

CAT, Unknown motor

Mass

266 kg wet, 266 kg dry

Launch date (UTC)

1981-06-19 (45 years ago)

Launch vehicle

ARIANE 1

Launch site

French Guiana (FRGUI)

Object type

Payload

Rocket body

Debris

Shape & HBR

Unknown

Radar Cross Section

Large (>1 m²)

Expand to show TLE details & history
Last TLE update: 3 days ago

TLE from 3 days ago

0 CAT 3
1 12546U 81057C   26152.30665720  .00008241  00000-0  72517-3 0  9994
2 12546  10.0977 197.9493 5718711  90.4099 331.5646  4.50957252414340

Epoch: 2026-06-01T07:21Z

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-06-01T07:21:35.182Z)

Latitude

0.00002°

Longitude

-162.14057°

Altitude

4,058.042 km

Speed

7.115 km/s

True Right ascension

13h 12m 12s

True Declination

0° 00' 00"

Sunlit

Object was in daylight at epoch

Visualization orbit readout

Latitude

Unknown

Longitude

Unknown

Altitude

Unknown

Speed

Unknown

Apparent Right ascension

Unknown

Apparent Declination

Unknown

Sunlit

N/A

Visualization observer readout

Local Sidereal Time

15:08:27

Azimuth

Unknown

Elevation

Unknown

Doppler factor

Unknown

Orbital elements

Apogee altitude

17,955.114 km

Perigee altitude

249.485 km

Semi-major axis

15,480.436 km

Eccentricity

0.57187

Inclination

10.0977°

RAAN

197.9493°

Arg. of periapsis

90.4099°

True anomaly

269.64727°

Mean anomaly

331.5646°

Eccentric anomaly

304.59093°

Mean motion

1.12686 °/min

Orbital period

319.47 mins

BSTAR

0.00072517

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Other satellites on launch #57 in the year 1981 (1981-06-19 UTC)

METEOSAT 2, 12544

METEOSAT 2 AKM (MAGE 1), 20837

ARIANE 1 DEB, 48343

APPLE, 12545

ARIANE 1 R/B, 12562 (Decayed)

ARIANE 1 DEB, 14125 (Decayed)

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You can import UDL-sourced sensor .json files into the Sandbox to generate a visibility chart that accounts for multi-vendor sensor geometry.

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CAT 3 Visibility forecast

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Span	Click to sort rows by Start time (UTC) header in descending order	Start Az.	Max El. time (UTC)	Max El. Az.	Max El.	End time (UTC)	End Az.
93 mins	2026-06-04 16:00:15.623Z	193.434° SSW	2026-06-04 16:17:15.623Z	161.457° S	16.005°	2026-06-04 17:33:15.623Z	131.099° SE
198 mins	2026-06-04 22:29:15.623Z	227.145° WSW	2026-06-05 01:12:15.623Z	192.072° SSW	21.911°	2026-06-05 01:47:15.623Z	147.979° SSE

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Co-orbital & Co-planar RSOs

Thresholds — Semi-major Axis: ±100 km, RAAN: ±3°, Inclination: ±5°
TCA is derived from TLE conjunctions

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Click to sort rows by RSO header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Country header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Type header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Inclination Δ header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by RAAN Δ header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Coplanar Angle header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by SMA Δ header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Orbital period header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by <5km Md TCA header in descending order

CAUTION: Conjunctions in this section are generated from low-fidelity TLE screenings

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Check out CAT 3, 12546 on other resources

View CAT 3, 12546 on NASA - NSSDCA Website

View CAT 3, 12546 on Heavens-Above

View CAT 3, 12546 on Keep Track

View CAT 3, 12546 on Celestrak

View CAT 3, 12546 on Gunter's Space Page

Satcat and Kayhan Space are not affiliated with NASA, Celestrak, Heavens-Above, Keep Track, or Gunter's Space Page.

CAT 3, 12546

Orbit data source: Space-Track

Expand to show TLE details & historyLast TLE update: 3 days ago

TLE from 3 days ago

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-06-01T07:21:35.182Z)

Visualization orbit readout

Visualization observer readout

Orbital elements

Other satellites on launch #57 in the year 1981 (1981-06-19 UTC)

CAT 3 Visibility forecast

Co-orbital & Co-planar RSOs

Check out CAT 3, 12546 on other resources

Documentation

Expand to show TLE details & history
Last TLE update: 3 days ago