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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26880 intel report (Beta)
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Edit Public Description
Identifier
Orbit
Country
USRelated business
Manufacturer
TRW
Mission
Operational Defense Classified
Bus & Motor
DSP B18, MRE-4
Mass
~2,360 kg wet, ~2,200 kg dry
Launch date (UTC)
Launch vehicle
Launch site
Object type
Shape & HBR
Cyl + 1 Pan, 5.8 m
Radar Cross Section
31.528 m², Large (>1 m²)
Expand to show TLE details & historyLast TLE update: 1 day ago
TLE from 1 day ago
0 USA 159
1 26880U 01033A 25349.47670029 -.00000288 00000-0 00000-0 0 9998
2 26880 12.6114 17.7119 0000339 269.1768 279.7408 1.00280888 31120Epoch: 2025-12-15T11:26Z
TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2025-12-15T11:26:26.905Z)
Latitude
-1.94847°
Longitude
-49.57159°
Altitude
35,783.613 km
Speed
3.075 km/s
True Right ascension
13h 45m 39s
True Declination
-1° 56' 47"
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
11:15:51
Azimuth
Unknown
Elevation
Unknown
Doppler factor
Unknown
Orbital elements
Apogee altitude
35,786.468 km
Perigee altitude
35,783.61 km
Semi-major axis
42,163.176 km
Eccentricity
0.00003
Inclination
12.6114°
RAAN
17.7119°
Arg. of periapsis
269.1768°
True anomaly
279.73697°
Mean anomaly
279.7408°
Eccentric anomaly
279.73889°
Mean motion
0.25069 °/min
Orbital period
1,436.02 mins
BSTAR
0
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Other satellites on launch #33 in the year 2001 (2001-08-06 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.USA 159 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 101 mins | 2025-12-16 12:34:42.166Z | 118.307° SE | 2025-12-16 12:34:42.166Z | 118.307° SE | 13° | 2025-12-16 14:15:42.166Z | 121.447° SE |
| 1004 mins | 2025-12-16 19:50:42.166Z | 119.455° SE | 2025-12-17 04:17:42.166Z | 103.039° ESE | 23.973° | 2025-12-17 12:34:42.166Z | 118.442° SE |
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26880 neighbors
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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
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 |
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CAUTION: Conjunctions in this section are generated from low-fidelity TLE screenings
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