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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Identifier

40998, 1997-051ABL

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: 2 days ago

TLE from 2 days ago

0 IRIDIUM 33 DEB
1 40998U 97051ABL 25343.95681948  .00002485  00000-0  70534-3 0  9990
2 40998  86.3826  54.8444 0009572  91.7080  32.8835 14.45082428 66416

Epoch: 2025-12-09T22:57Z

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2025-12-09T22:57:49.203Z)

Latitude

55.28308°

Longitude

166.24828°

Altitude

745.296 km

Speed

7.49 km/s

True Right ascension

15h 18m 32s

True Declination

55° 07' 18"

Sunlit

Object was in daylight 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

09:19:20

Azimuth

Unknown

Elevation

Unknown

Doppler factor

Unknown

Orbital elements

Apogee altitude

745.517 km

Perigee altitude

731.893 km

Semi-major axis

7,116.842 km

Eccentricity

0.00096

Inclination

86.3826°

RAAN

54.8444°

Arg. of periapsis

91.708°

True anomaly

32.94311°

Mean anomaly

32.8835°

Eccentric anomaly

32.9133°

Mean motion

3.61503 °/min

Orbital period

99.58 mins

BSTAR

0.00070534

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

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35921 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 39595 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 36484 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 36389 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35928 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34363 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 40995 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34379 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33863 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34901 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34109 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 39790 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34106 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34361 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 40993 (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	2025-12-11 16:30:09.675Z	10.211° NNE	2025-12-11 16:35:09.675Z	99.672° ESE	35.887°	2025-12-11 16:39:09.675Z	156.707° SSE
5 mins	2025-12-11 18:12:09.675Z	309.197° NW	2025-12-11 18:14:09.675Z	281.875° WNW	16.512°	2025-12-11 18:17:09.675Z	242.882° WSW
8 mins	2025-12-12 05:21:09.675Z	182.565° SSW	2025-12-12 05:25:09.675Z	345.007° N	44.607°	2025-12-12 05:29:09.675Z	1.619° NNE

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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, 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

Satcat and Kayhan Space are not affiliated with NASA, Celestrak, Heavens-Above, Keep Track, or Gunter's Space Page.

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 40998

Orbit data source: Space-Track

Expand to show TLE details & historyLast TLE update: 2 days ago

TLE from 2 days ago

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2025-12-09T22:57:49.203Z)

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, 40998 on other resources

Documentation

Expand to show TLE details & history
Last TLE update: 2 days ago