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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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Iframe URL

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: 11 hours ago

TLE from 11 hours ago

0 IRIDIUM 159
1 43578U 18061K   26123.90322314  .00000033  00000-0  47066-5 0  9995
2 43578  86.3949  75.2201 0002172  88.2203 271.9241 14.34217841407035

Epoch: 2026-05-03T21:40Z

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-05-03T21:40:38.479Z)

Latitude

-0.00007°

Longitude

-111.74033°

Altitude

780.666 km

Speed

7.464 km/s

True Right ascension

05h 00m 52s

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

16:54:58

Azimuth

Unknown

Elevation

Unknown

Doppler factor

Unknown

Orbital elements

Apogee altitude

776.185 km

Perigee altitude

773.078 km

Semi-major axis

7,152.768 km

Eccentricity

0.00022

Inclination

86.3949°

RAAN

75.2201°

Arg. of periapsis

88.2203°

True anomaly

271.89922°

Mean anomaly

271.9241°

Eccentric anomaly

271.91166°

Mean motion

3.58783 °/min

Orbital period

100.34 mins

BSTAR

0.0000047066

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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.
7 mins	2026-05-04 09:59:22.287Z	323.492° NNW	2026-05-04 10:02:22.287Z	284.549° WNW	20.58°	2026-05-04 10:06:22.287Z	231.252° WSW
9 mins	2026-05-04 21:14:22.287Z	178.852° S	2026-05-04 21:18:22.287Z	62.745° ENE	44.901°	2026-05-04 21:23:22.287Z	3.552° NNE
6 mins	2026-05-05 07:46:22.287Z	44.785° NE	2026-05-05 07:48:22.287Z	74.393° E	20.286°	2026-05-05 07:52:22.287Z	126.393° SE

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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: 11 hours ago

TLE from 11 hours ago

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-05-03T21:40:38.479Z)

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: 11 hours ago