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USA 159, 26880

Orbit data source: Space-Track

USA 159, 26880 is a payload satellite owned by USAF SMC (US) in GEO that was launched on Mon, 06 Aug 2001 UTC via a TITAN 402B/IUS launch vehicle from the Air Force Eastern Test Range (AFETR). 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 src="https://www.satcat.com/sats-embedded/26880?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/26880?theme=dark&initialShowStats=false

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ISO8601 Format

Identifier

26880, 2001-033A

Orbit

GEO

Country

Related business

United States Space Force (US)

Manufacturer

TRW

Mission

Operational Defense Classified

Bus & Motor

DSP B18, MRE-4

Mass

~2,360 kg wet, ~2,200 kg dry

Launch date (UTC)

2001-08-06 (24 years ago)

Launch vehicle

TITAN 402B/IUS

Launch site

Air Force Eastern Test Range (AFETR)

Object type

Payload

Rocket body

Debris

Shape & HBR

Cyl + 1 Pan, 5.8 m

Radar Cross Section

31.528 m², Large (>1 m²)

Expand to show TLE details & history
Last TLE update: 7 hours ago

TLE from 7 hours ago

0 USA 159
1 26880U 01033A   25243.23031812 -.00000294  00000-0  00000-0 0  9993
2 26880  12.5104  18.4205 0000713 226.6685 128.1653  1.00265847 30052

Epoch: 2025-08-31T05:31Z

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2025-08-31T05:31:39.485Z)

Latitude

-1.12785°

Longitude

-49.20281°

Altitude

35,789.803 km

Speed

3.075 km/s

True Right ascension

00h 53m 27s

True Declination

-1° 07' 36"

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

04:23:59

Azimuth

Unknown

Elevation

Unknown

Doppler factor

Unknown

Orbital elements

Apogee altitude

35,792.263 km

Perigee altitude

35,786.25 km

Semi-major axis

42,167.394 km

Eccentricity

0.00007

Inclination

12.5104°

RAAN

18.4205°

Arg. of periapsis

226.6685°

True anomaly

128.17172°

Mean anomaly

128.1653°

Eccentric anomaly

128.16851°

Mean motion

0.25066 °/min

Orbital period

1,436.23 mins

BSTAR

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Other satellites on launch #33 in the year 2001 (2001-08-06 UTC)

TITAN 4B R/B, 26881 (Decayed)

IUS R/B(1), 26882

IUS R/B(2), 26883

USA 159 DEB, 26887

USA 159 Visibility forecast

Observer location: undefined°, undefined°
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.
518 mins	2025-08-31 12:44:39.497Z	103.055° ESE	2025-08-31 12:44:39.497Z	103.055° ESE	23.509°	2025-08-31 21:22:39.497Z	121.451° SE
594 mins	2025-09-01 02:50:39.497Z	119.536° SE	2025-09-01 11:22:39.497Z	103.178° ESE	23.942°	2025-09-01 12:44:39.497Z	103.104° ESE