Showing default

IRIDIUM 138, 43071

Orbit data source: Space-Track

IRIDIUM 138, 43071 is a payload satellite owned by Iridium (US) in LEO that was launched on Sat, 23 Dec 2017 UTC via an FALCON 9 launch vehicle from the Air Force Western Test Range (AFWTR). Payload-class satellites include a variety of spacecraft equipped with specific instruments for various scientific and technological missions. These include communications satellites like Starlink; space stations such as the ISS; scientific satellites like the Hubble; Earth observation satellites from companies like Planet Labs, Umbra, and HawkEye 360; GPS; miniature CubeSats for education and research; and military/defense satellites.

Loading next visibility...

Iframe embed code

<iframe src="https://www.satcat.com/sats-embedded/43071?theme=dark&initialShowStats=false" width="600" height="400" frameborder="0" title="Kayhan Space Satcat Satellite Viewer"></iframe>

Iframe URL

https://www.satcat.com/sats-embedded/43071?theme=dark&initialShowStats=false

Optional Secondary NORAD IDs

Max 10 NORAD IDs; Separated by commas

Initial load time (optional)

ISO8601 Format

TLE date request (optional)

ISO8601 Format

Identifier

43071, 2017-083B

Orbit

LEO

Country

Related business

Iridium Communications Inc. (US)

Manufacturer

OATK SSG Gilbert

Mission

Operational Commercial Communications

Bus & Motor

ELITEBUS, Unknown motor

Mass

860 kg wet, 700 kg dry

Launch date (UTC)

2017-12-23 (8 years ago)

Launch vehicle

FALCON 9

Launch site

Air Force Western Test Range (AFWTR)

Object type

Payload

Rocket body

Debris

Shape & HBR

Trap Box + 2 Pan, 4.8 m

Radar Cross Section

10.154 m², Large (>1 m²)

Expand to show TLE details & history
Last TLE update: 10 hours ago

TLE from 10 hours ago

0 IRIDIUM 138
1 43071U 17083B   26128.12980544  .00000015  00000-0 -15414-5 0  9993
2 43071  86.3979 338.4585 0002112  95.5617 264.5820 14.34217588438391

Epoch: 2026-05-08T03:06Z

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-05-08T03:06:55.190Z)

Latitude

0.00003°

Longitude

65.76253°

Altitude

780.862 km

Speed

7.463 km/s

True Right ascension

22h 33m 50s

True Declination

0° 00' 00"

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

21:38:05

Azimuth

Unknown

Elevation

Unknown

Doppler factor

Unknown

Orbital elements

Apogee altitude

776.143 km

Perigee altitude

773.121 km

Semi-major axis

7,152.769 km

Eccentricity

0.00021

Inclination

86.3979°

RAAN

338.4585°

Arg. of periapsis

95.5617°

True anomaly

264.55791°

Mean anomaly

264.582°

Eccentric anomaly

264.56995°

Mean motion

3.58783 °/min

Orbital period

100.34 mins

BSTAR

-0.0000015414

Loading maneuver chart data...

Computing Atmospheric mass density...

Loading historical data...

Other satellites on launch #83 in the year 2017 (2017-12-23 UTC)

Did you know?

You can import UDL-sourced sensor .json files into the Sandbox to generate a visibility chart that accounts for multi-vendor sensor geometry.

Click here to try in Sandbox

IRIDIUM 138 Visibility forecast

Loading observer location...
Set Observer location

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	2026-05-08 14:56:59.027Z	198.879° SSW	2026-05-08 15:00:59.027Z	255.901° W	39.036°	2026-05-08 15:05:59.027Z	352.149° N
7 mins	2026-05-09 01:28:59.027Z	28.797° NE	2026-05-09 01:31:59.027Z	86.053° E	30.387°	2026-05-09 01:35:59.027Z	144.958° SSE
6 mins	2026-05-09 03:09:59.027Z	314.146° NW	2026-05-09 03:11:59.027Z	283.654° WNW	22.152°	2026-05-09 03:15:59.027Z	228.531° WSW

Items per page:

1–3 of 3 items

of 1 page

Co-orbital & Co-planar RSOs

Thresholds — Semi-major Axis: ±100 km, RAAN: ±3°, Inclination: ±5°
TCA is derived from TLE conjunctions

Please sign-in to view Co-orbital & Co-planar RSOs.

Click to sort rows by RSO header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Country header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Type header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Inclination Δ header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by RAAN Δ header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Coplanar Angle header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by SMA Δ header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Orbital period header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by <5km Md TCA header in descending order

CAUTION: Conjunctions in this section are generated from low-fidelity TLE screenings

Authenticating...

Click to sort rows by Secondary header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Secondary name header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Country header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Owner header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Obj. Type header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Miss dist. header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Rel. speed header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by Apr. angle header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by TCA header in descending order

Check out IRIDIUM 138, 43071 on other resources

View IRIDIUM 138, 43071 on NASA - NSSDCA Website

View IRIDIUM 138, 43071 on Heavens-Above

View IRIDIUM 138, 43071 on Keep Track

View IRIDIUM 138, 43071 on Celestrak

View IRIDIUM 138, 43071 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 138, 43071

Orbit data source: Space-Track

Expand to show TLE details & historyLast TLE update: 10 hours ago

TLE from 10 hours ago

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-05-08T03:06:55.190Z)

Visualization orbit readout

Visualization observer readout

Orbital elements

Other satellites on launch #83 in the year 2017 (2017-12-23 UTC)

IRIDIUM 138 Visibility forecast

Co-orbital & Co-planar RSOs

Check out IRIDIUM 138, 43071 on other resources

Documentation

Expand to show TLE details & history
Last TLE update: 10 hours ago