IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34870

Orbit data source: Space-Track

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34870 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

34870, 1997-051MQ

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: 6 hours ago

TLE from 6 hours ago

0 IRIDIUM 33 DEB
1 34870U 97051MQ  26139.54173985  .00004905  00000-0  64875-3 0  9998
2 34870  86.3111 241.5834 0014959  12.2082 358.9417 14.79699499912426

Epoch: 2026-05-19T13:00Z

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-05-19T13:00:06.323Z)

Latitude

11.07195°

Longitude

170.06184°

Altitude

622.143 km

Speed

7.554 km/s

True Right ascension

16h 09m 12s

True Declination

11° 00' 22"

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

03:51:59

Azimuth

Unknown

Elevation

Unknown

Doppler factor

Unknown

Orbital elements

Apogee altitude

637.654 km

Perigee altitude

616.696 km

Semi-major axis

7,005.312 km

Eccentricity

0.0015

Inclination

86.3111°

RAAN

241.5834°

Arg. of periapsis

12.2082°

True anomaly

358.93853°

Mean anomaly

358.9417°

Eccentric anomaly

358.94011°

Mean motion

3.70171 °/min

Orbital period

97.25 mins

BSTAR

0.00064875

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

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34362 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34593 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34506 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34531 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34143 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 46978 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35751 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 28, 24948

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34651

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34652

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 46972

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 38028

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35628

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 38241

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 37562

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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.
5 mins	2026-05-19 20:01:36.980Z	318.417° NNW	2026-05-19 20:04:36.980Z	271.721° WNW	18.214°	2026-05-19 20:06:36.980Z	241.026° WSW
6 mins	2026-05-20 06:56:36.980Z	148.069° SSE	2026-05-20 06:58:36.980Z	106.249° ESE	33.612°	2026-05-20 07:02:36.980Z	19.26° NNE
7 mins	2026-05-20 18:44:36.980Z	5.841° NNE	2026-05-20 18:47:36.980Z	73.078° E	42.822°	2026-05-20 18:51:36.980Z	169.017° 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, 34870 on other resources

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34870 on Heavens-Above

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34870 on Keep Track

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34870 on Celestrak

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34870 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, 34870

Orbit data source: Space-Track

Expand to show TLE details & historyLast TLE update: 6 hours ago

TLE from 6 hours ago

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-05-19T13:00:06.323Z)

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, 34870 on other resources

Documentation

Expand to show TLE details & history
Last TLE update: 6 hours ago