IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 39778

Orbit data source: Space-Track

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 39778 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

39778, 1997-051AAK

Orbit

LEO

Country

Related business

Iridium Communications Inc. (US)

Manufacturer

Unknown

Mission

Spacecraft

Bus & Motor

Unknown

Mass

Unknown

Launch date (UTC)

1997-09-14 (28 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 39778U 97051AAK 25342.44050023  .00005631  00000-0  13246-2 0  9993
2 39778  86.3776  45.0917 0008433  54.5807 305.6186 14.54215447606307

Epoch: 2025-12-08T10:34Z

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2025-12-08T10:34:19.219Z)

Latitude

-0.00007°

Longitude

169.07212°

Altitude

711.513 km

Speed

7.502 km/s

True Right ascension

03h 00m 22s

True Declination

0° 00' 00"

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

19:45:54

Azimuth

Unknown

Elevation

Unknown

Doppler factor

Unknown

Orbital elements

Apogee altitude

714.827 km

Perigee altitude

702.874 km

Semi-major axis

7,086.987 km

Eccentricity

0.00084

Inclination

86.3776°

RAAN

45.0917°

Arg. of periapsis

54.5807°

True anomaly

305.54°

Mean anomaly

305.6186°

Eccentric anomaly

305.5793°

Mean motion

3.6379 °/min

Orbital period

98.96 mins

BSTAR

0.0013246

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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, 34831 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33878 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33872 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 40992 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34493 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35629 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35298 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33963 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 38230 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 38229

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 39790 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 38233 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34363 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 36565 (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.
9 mins	2025-12-09 04:50:48.698Z	178.061° S	2025-12-09 04:54:48.698Z	156.199° SSE	43.84°	2025-12-09 04:59:48.698Z	4.256° NNE
4 mins	2025-12-09 15:14:48.698Z	50.043° ENE	2025-12-09 15:16:48.698Z	77.876° E	15.305°	2025-12-09 15:18:48.698Z	104.903° ESE
8 mins	2025-12-09 16:52:48.698Z	341.657° N	2025-12-09 16:55:48.698Z	293.113° NW	36.515°	2025-12-09 17:00:48.698Z	198.48° SSW

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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, 39778 on other resources

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 39778 on Heavens-Above

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 39778 on Keep Track

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 39778 on Celestrak

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 39778 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, 39778

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: 2025-12-08T10:34:19.219Z)

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, 39778 on other resources

Documentation

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