MIDAS 3, 163
Orbit data source: Space-Track
MIDAS 3, 163 is a payload satellite owned by USAF SSD (US) in LEO that was launched on Wed, 12 Jul 1961 UTC via an ATLAS AGENA B 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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163 intel report (Beta)
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Edit Public Description
Identifier
Orbit
Country
USRelated business
Manufacturer
LMSC
Mission
Defense Early Warn
Bus & Motor
MIDAS, Unknown motor
Mass
~1,540 kg wet, 840 kg dry
Launch date (UTC)
Launch vehicle
Launch site
Object type
Shape & HBR
Cyl, 4.5 m
Radar Cross Section
11.475 m², Large (>1 m²)
Expand to show TLE details & historyLast TLE update: 10 hours ago
TLE from 10 hours ago
0 MIDAS 3
1 00163U 61018A 25261.19455593 -.00000022 00000-0 -84830-2 0 9994
2 00163 91.1087 193.5519 0100885 93.4469 267.7949 8.91838296 89766Epoch: 2025-09-18T04:40Z
TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2025-09-18T04:40:09.632Z)
Latitude
-0.00002°
Longitude
126.15212°
Altitude
3,451.166 km
Speed
6.367 km/s
True Right ascension
12h 54m 12s
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
07:09:17
Azimuth
Unknown
Elevation
Unknown
Doppler factor
Unknown
Orbital elements
Apogee altitude
3,540.951 km
Perigee altitude
3,342.813 km
Semi-major axis
9,820.019 km
Eccentricity
0.01009
Inclination
91.1087°
RAAN
193.5519°
Arg. of periapsis
93.4469°
True anomaly
266.64034°
Mean anomaly
267.7949°
Eccentric anomaly
267.21755°
Mean motion
2.23036 °/min
Orbital period
161.41 mins
BSTAR
-0.008483
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Other satellites on launch #18 in the year 1961 (1961-07-12 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.MIDAS 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 mins | 2025-09-18 18:11:44.204Z | 133.934° SE | 2025-09-18 18:27:44.204Z | 65.925° ENE | 35.281° | 2025-09-18 18:42:44.204Z | 4.347° NNE |
| 32 mins | 2025-09-18 20:51:44.204Z | 201.202° SSW | 2025-09-18 21:06:44.204Z | 272.384° WNW | 39.277° | 2025-09-18 21:23:44.204Z | 351.704° N |
| 27 mins | 2025-09-19 05:41:44.204Z | 18.898° NNE | 2025-09-19 05:54:44.204Z | 73.984° E | 27.628° | 2025-09-19 06:08:44.204Z | 131.515° SE |
| 32 mins | 2025-09-19 08:21:44.204Z | 359.531° N | 2025-09-19 08:36:44.204Z | 283.59° WNW | 43.625° | 2025-09-19 08:53:44.204Z | 201.261° SSW |
| 16 mins | 2025-09-19 11:04:44.204Z | 339.88° N | 2025-09-19 11:12:44.204Z | 309.502° NW | 16.598° | 2025-09-19 11:20:44.204Z | 279.623° WNW |
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 ascending order |
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CAUTION: Conjunctions in this section are generated from low-fidelity TLE screenings
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