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IRIDIUM 159, 43578

Orbit data source: Space-Track

IRIDIUM 159, 43578 is a payload satellite owned by Iridium (US) in LEO that was launched on Wed, 25 Jul 2018 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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https://www.satcat.com/sats-embedded/43578?theme=dark&initialShowStats=false

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Identifier

43578, 2018-061K

Orbit

LEO

Country

Related business

Iridium Communications Inc. (US)

Manufacturer

NGIS SSG Gilbert

Mission

Operational Commercial Communications

Bus & Motor

ELITEBUS, Unknown motor

Mass

860 kg wet, 700 kg dry

Launch date (UTC)

2018-07-25 (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: 22 hours ago

TLE from 22 hours ago

0 IRIDIUM 159
1 43578U 18061K   26033.48322867  .00000271  00000-0  89544-4 0  9991
2 43578  86.3971 113.0538 0002218 100.0402 260.1045 14.34214335394075

Epoch: 2026-02-02T11:35Z

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-02-02T11:35:50.957Z)

Latitude

0.00009°

Longitude

166.41362°

Altitude

781.003 km

Speed

7.463 km/s

True Right ascension

07h 32m 12s

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

11:42:01

Azimuth

Unknown

Elevation

Unknown

Doppler factor

Unknown

Orbital elements

Apogee altitude

776.229 km

Perigee altitude

773.057 km

Semi-major axis

7,152.78 km

Eccentricity

0.00022

Inclination

86.3971°

RAAN

113.0538°

Arg. of periapsis

100.0402°

True anomaly

260.07946°

Mean anomaly

260.1045°

Eccentric anomaly

260.09198°

Mean motion

3.58782 °/min

Orbital period

100.34 mins

BSTAR

0.000089544

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Other satellites on launch #61 in the year 2018 (2018-07-25 UTC)

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IRIDIUM 159 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	2026-02-03 16:38:08.278Z	16.144° NNE	2026-02-03 16:42:08.278Z	69.098° E	30.368°	2026-02-03 16:47:08.278Z	147.512° SSE
6 mins	2026-02-03 18:20:08.278Z	320.771° NNW	2026-02-03 18:23:08.278Z	277.307° WNW	21.932°	2026-02-03 18:26:08.278Z	234.558° WSW
8 mins	2026-02-04 05:35:08.278Z	175.459° S	2026-02-04 05:39:08.278Z	31.936° NE	43.506°	2026-02-04 05:43:08.278Z	5.215° 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 159, 43578 on other resources

View IRIDIUM 159, 43578 on NASA - NSSDCA Website

View IRIDIUM 159, 43578 on Heavens-Above

View IRIDIUM 159, 43578 on Keep Track

View IRIDIUM 159, 43578 on Celestrak

View IRIDIUM 159, 43578 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 159, 43578

Orbit data source: Space-Track

Expand to show TLE details & historyLast TLE update: 22 hours ago

TLE from 22 hours ago

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-02-02T11:35:50.957Z)

Visualization orbit readout

Visualization observer readout

Orbital elements

Other satellites on launch #61 in the year 2018 (2018-07-25 UTC)

IRIDIUM 159 Visibility forecast

Co-orbital & Co-planar RSOs

Check out IRIDIUM 159, 43578 on other resources

Documentation

Expand to show TLE details & history
Last TLE update: 22 hours ago