IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33870

Orbit data source: Space-Track

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33870 is space debris in LEO originally from a launch on Sun, 14 Sep 1997 UTC launched from the Tyuratam Missile And Space Complex (TTMTR). The debris from Iridium 33, an American commercial communications satellite, has been tracked extensively since its accidental collision with the defunct Russian satellite Cosmos 2251 in 2009. This event, occurring at high speed in low Earth orbit (LEO), generated thousands of pieces of space debris, significantly increasing the risk of further collisions. The Iridium 33 debris cloud has impacted space traffic management and orbital debris mitigation strategies, making it a subject of ongoing study in space situational awareness.

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Identifier

33870, 1997-051AP

Orbit

LEO

Country

Related business

Iridium Communications Inc. (US)

Manufacturer

Unknown

Mission

Spacecraft

Bus & Motor

Unknown

Mass

Unknown

Launch date (UTC)

1997-09-14 (29 years ago)

Launch vehicle

Unknown

Launch site

Tyuratam Missile And Space Complex (TTMTR)

Object type

Payload

Rocket body

Debris

Shape & HBR

Unknown shape, 0.1 m

Radar Cross Section

Small (<0.1 m²)

Expand to show TLE details & history
Last TLE update: 8 hours ago

TLE from 8 hours ago

0 IRIDIUM 33 DEB
1 33870U 97051AP  26090.20066836  .00003191  00000-0  87917-3 0  9990
2 33870  86.3800  11.7444 0020164 176.0455 345.3463 14.46517901897044

Epoch: 2026-03-31T04:48Z

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-03-31T04:48:57.746Z)

Latitude

18.62234°

Longitude

-70.29247°

Altitude

725.709 km

Speed

7.501 km/s

True Right ascension

12h 42m 07s

True Declination

18° 31' 05"

Sunlit

Object was in full shadow 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

18:00:23

Azimuth

Unknown

Elevation

Unknown

Doppler factor

Unknown

Orbital elements

Apogee altitude

748.333 km

Perigee altitude

719.651 km

Semi-major axis

7,112.129 km

Eccentricity

0.00202

Inclination

86.38°

RAAN

11.7444°

Arg. of periapsis

176.0455°

True anomaly

345.2877°

Mean anomaly

345.3463°

Eccentric anomaly

345.31702°

Mean motion

3.61863 °/min

Orbital period

99.49 mins

BSTAR

0.00087917

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Other satellites on launch #51 in the year 1997 (1997-09-14 UTC)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33878 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34891 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34527 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34147 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34493 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34528 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 38226 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34706 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 40996

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 37548

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 37136

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 38028

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 36012

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35628

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34159

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IRIDIUM 33 DEB 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.
9 mins	2026-03-31 19:07:17.423Z	173.105° S	2026-03-31 19:12:17.423Z	55.867° ENE	43.023°	2026-03-31 19:16:17.423Z	7.574° NNE
4 mins	2026-04-01 05:35:17.423Z	56.365° ENE	2026-04-01 05:36:17.423Z	69.926° E	14.599°	2026-04-01 05:39:17.423Z	108.652° ESE
8 mins	2026-04-01 07:13:17.423Z	343.507° N	2026-04-01 07:17:17.423Z	252.431° W	38.109°	2026-04-01 07:21:17.423Z	196.933° SSW

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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

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CAUTION: Conjunctions in this section are generated from low-fidelity TLE screenings

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Check out IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33870 on other resources

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33870 on Heavens-Above

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33870 on Keep Track

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33870 on Celestrak

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33870 on Gunter's Space Page

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

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33870

Orbit data source: Space-Track

Expand to show TLE details & historyLast TLE update: 8 hours ago

TLE from 8 hours ago

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-03-31T04:48:57.746Z)

Visualization orbit readout

Visualization observer readout

Orbital elements

Other satellites on launch #51 in the year 1997 (1997-09-14 UTC)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB Visibility forecast

Co-orbital & Co-planar RSOs

Check out IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33870 on other resources

Documentation

Expand to show TLE details & history
Last TLE update: 8 hours ago