IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33881

Orbit data source: Space-Track

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33881 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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https://www.satcat.com/sats-embedded/33881?theme=dark&initialShowStats=false

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Identifier

33881, 1997-051BA

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

Medium (>0.1 m² and <1 m²)

Expand to show TLE details & history
Last TLE update: 14 hours ago

TLE from 14 hours ago

0 IRIDIUM 33 DEB
1 33881U 97051BA  26266.18724353  .00004551  00000-0  85648-3 0  9999
2 33881  86.3873 342.2841 0051768 287.0219  94.2284 14.63545669916521

Epoch: 2026-09-23T04:29Z

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-09-23T04:29:37.840Z)

Latitude

21.80744°

Longitude

-85.72574°

Altitude

687.466 km

Speed

7.513 km/s

True Right ascension

22h 54m 53s

True Declination

21° 41' 17"

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

11:39:04

Azimuth

Unknown

Elevation

Unknown

Doppler factor

Unknown

Orbital elements

Apogee altitude

715.203 km

Perigee altitude

642.14 km

Semi-major axis

7,056.809 km

Eccentricity

0.00518

Inclination

86.3873°

RAAN

342.2841°

Arg. of periapsis

287.0219°

True anomaly

94.81971°

Mean anomaly

94.2284°

Eccentric anomaly

94.52408°

Mean motion

3.66126 °/min

Orbital period

98.33 mins

BSTAR

0.00085648

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

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33961 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33775

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34698 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35048 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 46435

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33868 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 29, 24944

IRIDIUM 33, 24946

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 36082 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34982 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 38238 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 36498 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34157 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33872 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34094 (Decayed)

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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.
7 mins	2026-09-24 05:08:04.571Z	146.436° SSE	2026-09-24 05:11:04.571Z	97.117° ESE	36.611°	2026-09-24 05:15:04.571Z	23.781° NE
5 mins	2026-09-24 06:48:04.571Z	247.822° W	2026-09-24 06:50:04.571Z	278.638° WNW	20.607°	2026-09-24 06:53:04.571Z	323.206° NNW
7 mins	2026-09-24 17:05:04.571Z	7.617° NNE	2026-09-24 17:08:04.571Z	75.799° E	67.037°	2026-09-24 17:12:04.571Z	167.408° S

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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, 33881 on other resources

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33881 on Heavens-Above

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33881 on Keep Track

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33881 on Celestrak

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33881 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, 33881

Orbit data source: Space-Track

Expand to show TLE details & historyLast TLE update: 14 hours ago

TLE from 14 hours ago

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-09-23T04:29:37.840Z)

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, 33881 on other resources

Documentation

Expand to show TLE details & history
Last TLE update: 14 hours ago