POLAR BEAR, 17070
Orbit data source: Space-Track
POLAR BEAR, 17070 is an American payload satellite in LEO that was launched on Fri, 14 Nov 1986 UTC via an SCOUT G-1 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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17070 intel report (Beta)
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Edit Public Description
Identifier
Orbit
Country
USRelated business
Manufacturer
APL
Mission
Civil Science
Bus & Motor
TRANSIT 5, Unknown motor
Mass
114 kg wet, 114 kg dry
Launch date (UTC)
Launch vehicle
Launch site
Object type
Shape & HBR
Oct Cyl + 4 Pan + 1 Ant, Unknown HBR
Radar Cross Section
0.163 m², Large (>1 m²)
Expand to show TLE details & historyLast TLE update: 16 hours ago
TLE from 16 hours ago
0 POLAR BEAR
1 17070U 86088A 25260.83059156 .00000097 00000-0 89296-4 0 9991
2 17070 89.6233 187.1811 0040346 22.6321 36.3471 13.75225866947984Epoch: 2025-09-17T19:56Z
TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2025-09-17T19:56:03.11Z)
Latitude
59.34438°
Longitude
-108.2005°
Altitude
967.147 km
Speed
7.386 km/s
True Right ascension
12h 31m 15s
True Declination
59° 11' 51"
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
04:27:12
Azimuth
Unknown
Elevation
Unknown
Doppler factor
Unknown
Orbital elements
Apogee altitude
1,007.561 km
Perigee altitude
948.204 km
Semi-major axis
7,356.019 km
Eccentricity
0.00403
Inclination
89.6233°
RAAN
187.1811°
Arg. of periapsis
22.6321°
True anomaly
36.62223°
Mean anomaly
36.3471°
Eccentric anomaly
36.48455°
Mean motion
3.44016 °/min
Orbital period
104.65 mins
BSTAR
0.000089296
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Other satellites on launch #88 in the year 1986 (1986-11-14 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.POLAR BEAR 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 | 2025-09-18 18:29:06.279Z | 124.435° SE | 2025-09-18 18:33:06.279Z | 75.379° E | 23.75° | 2025-09-18 18:37:06.279Z | 27.816° NE |
| 9 mins | 2025-09-18 20:13:06.279Z | 209.667° SW | 2025-09-18 20:17:06.279Z | 268.136° W | 34.252° | 2025-09-18 20:22:06.279Z | 340.733° N |
| 11 mins | 2025-09-19 07:10:06.279Z | 10.574° NNE | 2025-09-19 07:15:06.279Z | 93.093° ESE | 42.094° | 2025-09-19 07:21:06.279Z | 171.06° S |
| 7 mins | 2025-09-19 08:56:06.279Z | 318.508° NNW | 2025-09-19 08:59:06.279Z | 285.305° WNW | 17.833° | 2025-09-19 09:03:06.279Z | 245.121° WSW |
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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