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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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Iframe URL

https://www.satcat.com/sats-embedded/1272?theme=dark&initialShowStats=false

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Identifier

1272, 1965-016H

Orbit

LEO

Country

Related business

United States Navy (US)

Manufacturer

NRL

Mission

Spacecraft

Bus & Motor

NRL 9", Unknown motor

Mass

4 kg wet, 4 kg dry

Launch date (UTC)

1965-03-09 (61 years ago)

Launch vehicle

THOR SLV-2 AGENA D

Launch site

Air Force Western Test Range (AFWTR)

Object type

Payload

Rocket body

Debris

Shape & HBR

Unknown

Radar Cross Section

Medium (>0.1 m² and <1 m²)

Expand to show TLE details & history
Last TLE update: 11 hours ago

TLE from 11 hours ago

0 PORCUPINE 1
1 01272U 65016H   26107.89174141  .00000001  00000-0  39833-4 0  9992
2 01272  70.0821  17.7357 0023441 207.5897 152.3966 13.94528557107979

Epoch: 2026-04-17T21:24Z

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-04-17T21:24:06.457Z)

Latitude

-0.00006°

Longitude

-149.30965°

Altitude

930.276 km

Speed

7.379 km/s

True Right ascension

01h 10m 56s

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

15:24:06

Azimuth

Unknown

Elevation

Unknown

Doppler factor

Unknown

Orbital elements

Apogee altitude

927.926 km

Perigee altitude

893.754 km

Semi-major axis

7,288.977 km

Eccentricity

0.00234

Inclination

70.0821°

RAAN

17.7357°

Arg. of periapsis

207.5897°

True anomaly

152.52074°

Mean anomaly

152.3966°

Eccentric anomaly

152.4587°

Mean motion

3.48773 °/min

Orbital period

103.22 mins

BSTAR

0.000039833

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Other satellites on launch #16 in the year 1965 (1965-03-09 UTC)

THOR AGENA D R/B, 1245

SOLRAD 7B, 1291

SURCAL 2, 1310 (Decayed)

OPS 4988 (GREB 6), 1271

OSCAR 3, 1293

SECOR 3, 1208

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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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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.
8 mins	2026-04-18 18:10:39.710Z	149.265° SSE	2026-04-18 18:14:39.710Z	102.876° ESE	22.451°	2026-04-18 18:18:39.710Z	55.717° ENE
10 mins	2026-04-18 19:55:39.710Z	229.052° WSW	2026-04-18 19:59:39.710Z	286.013° WNW	37.496°	2026-04-18 20:05:39.710Z	14.058° NNE
6 mins	2026-04-19 03:13:39.710Z	19.091° NNE	2026-04-19 03:16:39.710Z	53.085° ENE	15.817°	2026-04-19 03:19:39.710Z	84.177° E
9 mins	2026-04-19 04:58:39.710Z	334.676° NNW	2026-04-19 05:02:39.710Z	269.998° W	44.953°	2026-04-19 05:07:39.710Z	158.865° S

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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 PORCUPINE 1, 1272 on other resources

View PORCUPINE 1, 1272 on NASA - NSSDCA Website

View PORCUPINE 1, 1272 on Heavens-Above

View PORCUPINE 1, 1272 on Keep Track

View PORCUPINE 1, 1272 on Celestrak

View PORCUPINE 1, 1272 on Gunter's Space Page

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

PORCUPINE 1, 1272

Orbit data source: Space-Track

Expand to show TLE details & historyLast TLE update: 11 hours ago

TLE from 11 hours ago

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-04-17T21:24:06.457Z)

Visualization orbit readout

Visualization observer readout

Orbital elements

Other satellites on launch #16 in the year 1965 (1965-03-09 UTC)

PORCUPINE 1 Visibility forecast

Co-orbital & Co-planar RSOs

Check out PORCUPINE 1, 1272 on other resources

Documentation

Expand to show TLE details & history
Last TLE update: 11 hours ago