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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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

Small (<0.1 m²)

Expand to show TLE details & history
Last TLE update: 19 hours ago

TLE from 19 hours ago

0 IRIDIUM 33 DEB
1 33881U 97051BA  26085.96796979  .00015801  00000-0  32516-2 0  9992
2 33881  86.3837  61.3146 0052762 178.4773 241.5496 14.59578245890198

Epoch: 2026-03-26T23:13Z

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-03-26T23:13:52.589Z)

Latitude

59.39976°

Longitude

-105.46221°

Altitude

722.642 km

Speed

7.49 km/s

True Right ascension

04h 29m 39s

True Declination

59° 14' 53"

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

23:08:42

Azimuth

Unknown

Elevation

Unknown

Doppler factor

Unknown

Orbital elements

Apogee altitude

728.766 km

Perigee altitude

654.164 km

Semi-major axis

7,069.602 km

Eccentricity

0.00528

Inclination

86.3837°

RAAN

61.3146°

Arg. of periapsis

178.4773°

True anomaly

241.01968°

Mean anomaly

241.5496°

Eccentric anomaly

241.28447°

Mean motion

3.65133 °/min

Orbital period

98.59 mins

BSTAR

0.0032516

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

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 39787 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34514 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 38030 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35908 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33, 24946

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 36493

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 37565

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 39781

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33860

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33953

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 36028

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34071

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35052

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35053 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34896

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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.
8 mins	2026-03-27 22:06:29.188Z	145.588° SSE	2026-03-27 22:10:29.188Z	89.376° E	27.649°	2026-03-27 22:14:29.188Z	26.088° NE
6 mins	2026-03-27 23:47:29.188Z	243.623° WSW	2026-03-27 23:49:29.188Z	277.572° WNW	22.923°	2026-03-27 23:53:29.188Z	334.828° NNW
7 mins	2026-03-28 10:05:29.188Z	10.043° NNE	2026-03-28 10:08:29.188Z	58.389° ENE	38.533°	2026-03-28 10:12:29.188Z	160.474° 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: 19 hours ago

TLE from 19 hours ago

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-03-26T23:13:52.589Z)

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: 19 hours ago