Showing default

ESSA 3 (TOS-A), 2435

Orbit data source: Space-Track

ESSA 3 (TOS-A), 2435 is a payload satellite owned by ESSA (US) in SSO that was launched on Sun, 02 Oct 1966 UTC via a THOR DELTA E 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.

Loading next visibility...

Iframe embed code

<iframe src="https://www.satcat.com/sats-embedded/2435?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/2435?theme=dark&initialShowStats=false

Optional secondary NORAD IDs

Max 10 NORAD IDs; Separated by commas

Initial load time (optional)

ISO8601 Format

TLE date request (optional)

ISO8601 Format

Identifier

2435, 1966-087A

Orbit

SSO

Country

Related business

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (US)

Manufacturer

RCA/East Windsor

Mission

Non-operational spacecraft

Bus & Motor

TIROS I, Unknown motor

Mass

148 kg wet, 148 kg dry

Launch date (UTC)

1966-10-02 (60 years ago)

Launch vehicle

THOR DELTA E

Launch site

Air Force Western Test Range (AFWTR)

Object type

Payload

Rocket body

Debris

Shape & HBR

CYL, 1.1 m

Radar Cross Section

Medium (>0.1 m² and <1 m²)

Expand to show TLE details & history
Last TLE update: 18 hours ago

TLE from 18 hours ago

0 ESSA 3 (TOS-A)
1 02435U 66087A   26278.70714497 -.00000048  00000-0 -42899-4 0  9995
2 02435 101.0603 174.7867 0063854 177.0478 206.1852 12.56881114752899

Epoch: 2026-10-05T16:58Z

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-10-05T16:58:17.325Z)

Latitude

22.47966°

Longitude

-98.78442°

Altitude

1,483.149 km

Speed

7.103 km/s

True Right ascension

11h 20m 40s

True Declination

22° 22' 11"

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

04:30:21

Azimuth

Unknown

Elevation

Unknown

Doppler factor

Unknown

Orbital elements

Apogee altitude

1,483.222 km

Perigee altitude

1,383.463 km

Semi-major axis

7,811.48 km

Eccentricity

0.00639

Inclination

101.0603°

RAAN

174.7867°

Arg. of periapsis

177.0478°

True anomaly

205.86461°

Mean anomaly

206.1852°

Eccentric anomaly

206.02468°

Mean motion

3.14372 °/min

Orbital period

114.51 mins

BSTAR

-0.000042899

Loading maneuver chart data...

Computing Atmospheric mass density...

Loading historical data...

Other satellites on launch #87 in the year 1966 (1966-10-02 UTC)

Did you know?

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

Click here to try in Sandbox

ESSA 3 (TOS-A) Visibility forecast

Loading observer location...
Set Observer location

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.
15 mins	2026-10-06 15:53:25.115Z	126.731° SE	2026-10-06 16:01:25.115Z	55.09° ENE	39.913°	2026-10-06 16:08:25.115Z	357.474° N
14 mins	2026-10-06 17:46:25.115Z	190.709° SSW	2026-10-06 17:53:25.115Z	261.006° W	47.455°	2026-10-06 18:00:25.115Z	329.519° NNW
14 mins	2026-10-07 05:47:25.115Z	25.889° NE	2026-10-07 05:53:25.115Z	98.254° ESE	64.403°	2026-10-07 06:01:25.115Z	184.689° SSW
11 mins	2026-10-07 07:40:25.115Z	349.933° N	2026-10-07 07:45:25.115Z	303.919° NW	28.625°	2026-10-07 07:51:25.115Z	250.551° W

Items per page:

1–4 of 4 items

of 1 page

Co-orbital & Co-planar RSOs

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

Please sign in to view Co-orbital & Co-planar RSOs.

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

Authenticating...

Click to sort rows by Secondary header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Secondary name header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Country header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Owner header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Obj. Type header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Miss dist. header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Rel. speed header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Apr. angle header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by TCA header in descending order

Check out ESSA 3 (TOS-A), 2435 on other resources

View ESSA 3 (TOS-A), 2435 on NASA - NSSDCA Website

View ESSA 3 (TOS-A), 2435 on Heavens-Above

View ESSA 3 (TOS-A), 2435 on Keep Track

View ESSA 3 (TOS-A), 2435 on Celestrak

View ESSA 3 (TOS-A), 2435 on Gunter's Space Page

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

ESSA 3 (TOS-A), 2435

Orbit data source: Space-Track

Expand to show TLE details & historyLast TLE update: 18 hours ago

TLE from 18 hours ago

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-10-05T16:58:17.325Z)

Visualization orbit readout

Visualization observer readout

Orbital elements

Other satellites on launch #87 in the year 1966 (1966-10-02 UTC)

ESSA 3 (TOS-A) Visibility forecast

Co-orbital & Co-planar RSOs

Check out ESSA 3 (TOS-A), 2435 on other resources

Documentation

Expand to show TLE details & history
Last TLE update: 18 hours ago