IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 40998

Orbit data source: Space-Track

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 40998 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/40998?theme=dark&initialShowStats=false

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ISO8601 Format

Identifier

40998, 1997-051ABL

Orbit

LEO

Last TLE update

2 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 2 days ago

0 IRIDIUM 33 DEB
1 40998U 97051ABL 25190.53680762  .00001038  00000-0  29579-3 0  9993
2 40998  86.3844 120.3532 0005206 224.2591 260.6771 14.44382498 48546

Epoch: 2025-07-09T12:53Z

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2025-07-09T12:53:00.178Z)

Latitude

55.05836°

Longitude

174.22543°

Altitude

753.87 km

Speed

7.483 km/s

True Right ascension

19h 40m 46s

True Declination

54° 53' 48"

Sunlit

Object was in daylight at epoch

Visualization orbit readout

Latitude

-63.80266°

Longitude

-8.61676°

Altitude

767.697 km

Speed

7.47 km/s

Apparent Right ascension

04h 23m 22s

Apparent Declination

-58° 07' 21"

Sunlit

Object is in daylight

Visualization observer readout

Local Sidereal Time

14:31:41

Azimuth

215.099° SW

Elevation

-64.526°

Doppler factor

Orbital elements

Apogee altitude

744.712 km

Perigee altitude

737.299 km

Semi-major axis

7,119.143 km

Eccentricity

0.00052

Inclination

86.3844°

RAAN

120.3532°

Arg. of periapsis

224.2591°

True anomaly

Unknown

Mean anomaly

260.6771°

Eccentric anomaly

Unknown

Mean motion

3.61328 °/min

Orbital period

99.63 mins

BSTAR

0.00029579

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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, 39778

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.
7 mins	2025-07-11 06:27:09.431Z	27.463° NE	2025-07-11 06:31:09.431Z	84.683° E	22.181°	2025-07-11 06:34:09.431Z	126.907° SE
7 mins	2025-07-11 08:08:09.431Z	325.724° NNW	2025-07-11 08:11:09.431Z	268.184° W	29.005°	2025-07-11 08:15:09.431Z	212.68° SW
8 mins	2025-07-11 19:18:09.431Z	152.809° SSE	2025-07-11 19:21:09.431Z	102.142° ESE	35.352°	2025-07-11 19:26:09.431Z	15.76° NNE
5 mins	2025-07-11 21:00:09.431Z	259.38° W	2025-07-11 21:02:09.431Z	288.654° WNW	17.286°	2025-07-11 21:05:09.431Z	325.974° NNW

Authenticating...

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Check out IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 40998 on other resources

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 40998 on Heavens-Above

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 40998 on Keep Track

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 40998 on Celestrak

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 40998 on Gunter's Space Page

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