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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https://www.satcat.com/sats-embedded/39778?theme=dark&initialShowStats=false

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ISO8601 Format

Identifier

39778, 1997-051AAK

Orbit

LEO

Last TLE update

3 days ago

Origin

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

Radar Cross Section

Small (<0.1 m²)

Expand to show TLE details & history

TLE from 3 days ago

0 IRIDIUM 33 DEB
1 39778U 97051AAK 25172.57468537  .00002364  00000-0  57328-3 0  9991
2 39778  86.3779 118.7243 0004779 243.3562 116.7155 14.52598171608872

Epoch: 2025-06-21T13:47Z

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2025-06-21T13:47:32.815Z)

Latitude

-0.00003°

Longitude

1.82586°

Altitude

721.778 km

Speed

7.494 km/s

True Right ascension

07h 54m 53s

True Declination

0° 00' 00"

Sunlit

Object was in daylight at epoch

Visualization orbit readout

Latitude

-25.08678°

Longitude

-177.81383°

Altitude

723.639 km

Speed

7.494 km/s

Apparent Right ascension

17h 43m 49s

Apparent Declination

-38° 45' 46"

Sunlit

Object is in full shadow

Visualization observer readout

Local Sidereal Time

02:40:17

Azimuth

256.74° W

Elevation

-54.891°

Doppler factor

Orbital elements

Apogee altitude

717.504 km

Perigee altitude

710.725 km

Semi-major axis

7,092.251 km

Eccentricity

0.00048

Inclination

86.3779°

RAAN

118.7243°

Arg. of periapsis

243.3562°

True anomaly

Unknown

Mean anomaly

116.7155°

Eccentric anomaly

Unknown

Mean motion

3.63385 °/min

Orbital period

99.07 mins

BSTAR

0.00057328

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

IRIDIUM 29, 24944

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33857 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 38473 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 38474

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 38475 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 38476 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 38477

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 39593 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 39594

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 39595 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 39777

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 39779

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 39780 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 39781

IRIDIUM 33 DEB Visibility forecast

Observer location: undefined°, undefined°

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	2025-06-24 19:38:36.872Z	114.45° SE	2025-06-24 19:40:36.872Z	86.796° E	17.526°	2025-06-24 19:43:36.872Z	44.39° NE
8 mins	2025-06-24 21:16:36.872Z	211.508° SW	2025-06-24 21:19:36.872Z	261.119° W	33.523°	2025-06-24 21:24:36.872Z	347.98° N
7 mins	2025-06-25 07:39:36.872Z	26.754° NE	2025-06-25 07:42:36.872Z	84.717° E	30.047°	2025-06-25 07:46:36.872Z	146.187° SSE
5 mins	2025-06-25 09:19:36.872Z	311.584° NW	2025-06-25 09:21:36.872Z	279.781° WNW	20.566°	2025-06-25 09:24:36.872Z	235.381° WSW

Authenticating...

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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

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