IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 40996

Orbit data source: Space-Track

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 40996 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/40996?theme=dark&initialShowStats=false

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Identifier

40996, 1997-051ABJ

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: 3 days ago

TLE from 3 days ago

0 IRIDIUM 33 DEB
1 40996U 97051ABJ 26035.30396612  .00045727  00000-0  35245-2 0  9992
2 40996  86.3525 336.2923 0005403 171.7912 340.3999 15.01406327632903

Epoch: 2026-02-04T07:17Z

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-02-04T07:17:42.672Z)

Latitude

27.81058°

Longitude

-89.52436°

Altitude

562.64 km

Speed

7.584 km/s

True Right ascension

10h 17m 30s

True Declination

27° 39' 54"

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

15:40:27

Azimuth

Unknown

Elevation

Unknown

Doppler factor

Unknown

Orbital elements

Apogee altitude

563.178 km

Perigee altitude

555.682 km

Semi-major axis

6,937.567 km

Eccentricity

0.00054

Inclination

86.3525°

RAAN

336.2923°

Arg. of periapsis

171.7912°

True anomaly

340.37912°

Mean anomaly

340.3999°

Eccentric anomaly

340.38951°

Mean motion

3.75606 °/min

Orbital period

95.85 mins

BSTAR

0.0035245

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

IRIDIUM 28, 24948

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35680

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 38028

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 38241

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35806

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34159

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35628

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34097

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34651

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34652

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 36012

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 37548

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35848

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 38228

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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.
6 mins	2026-02-07 19:31:11.992Z	134.921° SE	2026-02-07 19:34:11.992Z	79.713° E	22.588°	2026-02-07 19:37:11.992Z	30.51° NE
5 mins	2026-02-07 21:08:11.992Z	242.637° WSW	2026-02-07 21:10:11.992Z	281.078° WNW	20.335°	2026-02-07 21:13:11.992Z	330.582° NNW
5 mins	2026-02-08 07:10:11.992Z	39.048° NE	2026-02-08 07:12:11.992Z	85.791° E	25.329°	2026-02-08 07:15:11.992Z	139.477° SSE

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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, 40996 on other resources

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 40996 on Heavens-Above

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 40996 on Keep Track

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 40996 on Celestrak

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 40996 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, 40996

Orbit data source: Space-Track

Expand to show TLE details & historyLast TLE update: 3 days ago

TLE from 3 days ago

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-02-04T07:17:42.672Z)

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, 40996 on other resources

Documentation

Expand to show TLE details & history
Last TLE update: 3 days ago