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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.

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Iframe URL

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

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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: 8 hours ago

TLE from 8 hours ago

0 IRIDIUM 138
1 43071U 17083B   25343.19725880  .00000080  00000-0  21651-4 0  9998
2 43071  86.3985  41.0914 0001810  89.1008 271.0395 14.34217654416905

Epoch: 2025-12-09T04:44Z

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2025-12-09T04:44:03.160Z)

Latitude

-0.00003°

Longitude

-108.10717°

Altitude

780.695 km

Speed

7.464 km/s

True Right ascension

02h 44m 21s

True Declination

0° 00' 00"

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

10:53:37

Azimuth

Unknown

Elevation

Unknown

Doppler factor

Unknown

Orbital elements

Apogee altitude

775.927 km

Perigee altitude

773.337 km

Semi-major axis

7,152.769 km

Eccentricity

0.00018

Inclination

86.3985°

RAAN

41.0914°

Arg. of periapsis

89.1008°

True anomaly

271.01876°

Mean anomaly

271.0395°

Eccentric anomaly

271.02913°

Mean motion

3.58783 °/min

Orbital period

100.34 mins

BSTAR

0.000021651

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

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IRIDIUM 138 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.
7 mins	2025-12-09 15:22:03.271Z	26.848° NE	2025-12-09 15:26:03.271Z	89.511° E	25.401°	2025-12-09 15:29:03.271Z	132.296° SE
7 mins	2025-12-09 17:03:03.271Z	326.818° NNW	2025-12-09 17:06:03.271Z	280.239° WNW	26.651°	2025-12-09 17:10:03.271Z	220.63° SW
8 mins	2025-12-10 04:18:03.271Z	164.731° S	2025-12-10 04:22:03.271Z	68.265° E	41.041°	2025-12-10 04:26:03.271Z	11.157° 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 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: 8 hours ago

TLE from 8 hours ago

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2025-12-09T04:44:03.160Z)

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: 8 hours ago