COSMOS 2251 DEB, 33972

Orbit data source: Space-Track

COSMOS 2251 DEB, 33972 is space debris in LEO originally from a launch on Wed, 16 Jun 1993 UTC launched from the Plesetsk Missile And Space Complex (PKMTR). 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

33972, 1993-036FF

Orbit

LEO

Country

CIS

Related business

Russian Space Forces (RU)

Manufacturer

Unknown

Mission

Spacecraft

Bus & Motor

Unknown

Mass

Unknown

Launch date (UTC)

1993-06-16 (33 years ago)

Launch vehicle

Unknown

Launch site

Plesetsk Missile And Space Complex (PKMTR)

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 COSMOS 2251 DEB
1 33972U 93036FF  26120.48133963  .00004717  00000-0  14374-2 0  9993
2 33972  73.9934 294.7727 0124422  71.3229 320.7993 14.37849644890671

Epoch: 2026-04-30T11:33Z

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-04-30T11:33:07.744Z)

Latitude

29.93243°

Longitude

-87.48127°

Altitude

700.599 km

Speed

7.545 km/s

True Right ascension

20h 16m 54s

True Declination

29° 46' 58"

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

02:40:19

Azimuth

Unknown

Elevation

Unknown

Doppler factor

Unknown

Orbital elements

Apogee altitude

852.092 km

Perigee altitude

674.383 km

Semi-major axis

7,141.374 km

Eccentricity

0.01244

Inclination

73.9934°

RAAN

294.7727°

Arg. of periapsis

71.3229°

True anomaly

319.88721°

Mean anomaly

320.7993°

Eccentric anomaly

320.34436°

Mean motion

3.59642 °/min

Orbital period

100.1 mins

BSTAR

0.0014374

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Other satellites on launch #36 in the year 1993 (1993-06-16 UTC)

COSMOS 2251 DEB, 37974 (Decayed)

COSMOS 2251 DEB, 33781 (Decayed)

COSMOS 2251 DEB, 34960 (Decayed)

COSMOS 2251 DEB, 34748 (Decayed)

COSMOS 2251 DEB, 34138 (Decayed)

COSMOS 2251 DEB, 36008

SL-8 DEB, 23007

COSMOS 2251 DEB, 37532

COSMOS 2251 DEB, 35471 (Decayed)

COSMOS 2251 DEB, 34625 (Decayed)

COSMOS 2251 DEB, 35289 (Decayed)

COSMOS 2251 DEB, 35584 (Decayed)

COSMOS 2251 DEB, 35075 (Decayed)

COSMOS 2251 DEB, 34884

COSMOS 2251 DEB, 34797

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COSMOS 2251 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	2026-04-30 21:58:50.841Z	13.609° NNE	2026-04-30 22:01:50.841Z	57.069° ENE	22.016°	2026-04-30 22:05:50.841Z	113.114° SE
7 mins	2026-04-30 23:40:50.841Z	316.6° NNW	2026-04-30 23:43:50.841Z	266.184° W	30.977°	2026-04-30 23:47:50.841Z	196.686° SSW
7 mins	2026-05-01 12:35:50.841Z	185.505° SSW	2026-05-01 12:38:50.841Z	90.789° ESE	43.232°	2026-05-01 12:42:50.841Z	24.355° NE

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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 COSMOS 2251 DEB, 33972 on other resources

View COSMOS 2251 DEB, 33972 on Heavens-Above

View COSMOS 2251 DEB, 33972 on Keep Track

View COSMOS 2251 DEB, 33972 on Celestrak

View COSMOS 2251 DEB, 33972 on Gunter's Space Page

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

COSMOS 2251 DEB, 33972

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: 2026-04-30T11:33:07.744Z)

Visualization orbit readout

Visualization observer readout

Orbital elements

Other satellites on launch #36 in the year 1993 (1993-06-16 UTC)

COSMOS 2251 DEB Visibility forecast

Co-orbital & Co-planar RSOs

Check out COSMOS 2251 DEB, 33972 on other resources

Documentation

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