IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34540

Orbit data source: Space-Track

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34540 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.

Loading next visibility...

Iframe embed code

<iframe src="https://www.satcat.com/sats-embedded/34540?theme=dark&initialShowStats=false" width="600" height="400" frameborder="0" title="Kayhan Space Satcat Satellite Viewer"></iframe>

Iframe URL

https://www.satcat.com/sats-embedded/34540?theme=dark&initialShowStats=false

Optional Secondary NORAD IDs

Max 10 NORAD IDs; Separated by commas

Initial load time (optional)

ISO8601 Format

TLE date request (optional)

ISO8601 Format

Identifier

34540, 1997-051JH

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: 11 hours ago

TLE from 11 hours ago

0 IRIDIUM 33 DEB
1 34540U 97051JH  26121.28773692  .00014581  00000-0  19869-2 0  9998
2 34540  86.3092 243.6124 0015863  52.8172 329.2650 14.78526692910812

Epoch: 2026-05-01T06:54Z

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-05-01T06:54:20.469Z)

Latitude

21.95366°

Longitude

-77.71319°

Altitude

627.285 km

Speed

7.552 km/s

True Right ascension

16h 20m 22s

True Declination

21° 49' 57"

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

01:14:52

Azimuth

Unknown

Elevation

Unknown

Doppler factor

Unknown

Orbital elements

Apogee altitude

642.001 km

Perigee altitude

619.764 km

Semi-major axis

7,009.019 km

Eccentricity

0.00159

Inclination

86.3092°

RAAN

243.6124°

Arg. of periapsis

52.8172°

True anomaly

329.17194°

Mean anomaly

329.265°

Eccentric anomaly

329.21849°

Mean motion

3.69877 °/min

Orbital period

97.33 mins

BSTAR

0.0019869

Loading maneuver chart data...

Computing Atmospheric mass density...

Loading historical data...

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

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35486 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34691 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 38234 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 29, 24944

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 46979

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 46965

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 46734

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34492

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 37550

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35631

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33775

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 36497

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34538

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35846

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35298 (Decayed)

Did you know?

You can import UDL-sourced sensor .json files into the Sandbox to generate a visibility chart that accounts for multi-vendor sensor geometry.

Click here to try in Sandbox

IRIDIUM 33 DEB Visibility forecast

Loading observer location...
Set Observer location

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	2026-05-01 20:21:41.965Z	355.588° N	2026-05-01 20:25:41.965Z	313.454° NW	44.546°	2026-05-01 20:29:41.965Z	181.909° SSW
8 mins	2026-05-02 08:54:41.965Z	194.352° SSW	2026-05-02 08:58:41.965Z	284.745° WNW	41.135°	2026-05-02 09:02:41.965Z	354.888° N

Items per page:

1–2 of 2 items

of 1 page

Co-orbital & Co-planar RSOs

Thresholds — Semi-major Axis: ±100 km, RAAN: ±3°, Inclination: ±5°
TCA is derived from TLE conjunctions

Please sign-in to view Co-orbital & Co-planar RSOs.

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

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

Authenticating...

Click to sort rows by Secondary header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Secondary name header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Country header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Owner header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Obj. Type header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Miss dist. header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Rel. speed header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Apr. angle header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by TCA header in descending order

Check out IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34540 on other resources

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34540 on Heavens-Above

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34540 on Keep Track

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34540 on Celestrak

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34540 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, 34540

Orbit data source: Space-Track

Expand to show TLE details & historyLast TLE update: 11 hours ago

TLE from 11 hours ago

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-05-01T06:54:20.469Z)

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, 34540 on other resources

Documentation

Expand to show TLE details & history
Last TLE update: 11 hours ago