PORCUPINE 1, 1272
Orbit data source: Space-Track
PORCUPINE 1, 1272 is a payload satellite owned by NRL (US) in LEO that was launched on Tue, 09 Mar 1965 UTC via a THOR SLV-2 AGENA D launch vehicle from the Air Force Western Test Range (AFWTR). 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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1272 intel report (Beta)
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Identifier
Orbit
Country
USRelated business
Manufacturer
NRL
Mission
Spacecraft
Bus & Motor
NRL 9", Unknown motor
Mass
4 kg wet, 4 kg dry
Launch date (UTC)
Launch vehicle
Launch site
Object type
Shape & HBR
SPHERE + 12 ANT, 7.6 m
Radar Cross Section
Medium (>0.1 m² and <1 m²)
Expand to show TLE details & historyLast TLE update: 6 hours ago
TLE from 6 hours ago
0 PORCUPINE 1
1 1272U 65016H 26209.17075494 -.00000010 00000-0 31273-4 0 9998
2 1272 70.0793 162.5793 0019782 65.7415 294.5754 13.94538351122090Epoch: 2026-07-28T04:05Z
TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-07-28T04:05:53.226Z)
Latitude
-0.00008°
Longitude
155.26368°
Altitude
909.11 km
Speed
7.401 km/s
True Right ascension
10h 50m 19s
True Declination
0° 00' 00"
Sunlit
Visualization orbit readout
Latitude
Unknown
Longitude
Unknown
Altitude
Unknown
Speed
Unknown
Apparent Right ascension
Unknown
Apparent Declination
Unknown
Sunlit
Visualization observer readout
Local Sidereal Time
23:34:08
Azimuth
Unknown
Elevation
Unknown
Doppler factor
Unknown
Orbital elements
Apogee altitude
925.225 km
Perigee altitude
896.387 km
Semi-major axis
7,288.943 km
Eccentricity
0.00198
Inclination
70.0793°
RAAN
162.5793°
Arg. of periapsis
65.7415°
True anomaly
294.36904°
Mean anomaly
294.5754°
Eccentric anomaly
294.47224°
Mean motion
3.48776 °/min
Orbital period
103.22 mins
BSTAR
0.000031273
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Other satellites on launch #16 in the year 1965 (1965-03-09 UTC)
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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.PORCUPINE 1 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 mins | 2026-07-28 21:25:14.282Z | 161.758° S | 2026-07-28 21:30:14.282Z | 99.628° ESE | 26.806° | 2026-07-28 21:34:14.282Z | 49.753° ENE |
| 9 mins | 2026-07-28 23:11:14.282Z | 238.71° WSW | 2026-07-28 23:15:14.282Z | 294.27° NW | 32.449° | 2026-07-28 23:20:14.282Z | 6.853° NNE |
| 6 mins | 2026-07-29 06:29:14.282Z | 19.799° NNE | 2026-07-29 06:31:14.282Z | 44.25° NE | 18.985° | 2026-07-29 06:35:14.282Z | 91.069° ESE |
| 10 mins | 2026-07-29 08:13:14.282Z | 328.954° NNW | 2026-07-29 08:18:14.282Z | 228.996° WSW | 42.802° | 2026-07-29 08:23:14.282Z | 168.066° S |
Co-orbital & Co-planar RSOs
Thresholds — Semi-major Axis: ±100 km, RAAN: ±3°, Inclination: ±5°
TCA is derived from TLE conjunctions
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 |
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CAUTION: Conjunctions in this section are generated from low-fidelity TLE screenings
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