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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43578 intel report (Beta)
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Edit Public Description
Identifier
Orbit
Country
USRelated business
Manufacturer
NGIS SSG Gilbert
Mission
Operational Commercial Communications
Bus & Motor
ELITEBUS, Unknown motor
Mass
860 kg wet, 700 kg dry
Launch date (UTC)
Launch vehicle
Launch site
Object type
Shape & HBR
Trap Box + 2 Pan, 4.7 m
Radar Cross Section
14.423 m², Large (>1 m²)
Expand to show TLE details & historyLast TLE update: 16 hours ago
TLE from 16 hours ago
0 IRIDIUM 159
1 43578U 18061K 25258.73689655 .00000127 00000-0 38140-4 0 9994
2 43578 86.4044 171.4088 0002030 81.7284 278.4142 14.34218038374049Epoch: 2025-09-15T17:41Z
TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2025-09-15T17:41:07.861Z)
Latitude
-0.00004°
Longitude
-88.81122°
Altitude
780.505 km
Speed
7.464 km/s
True Right ascension
11h 25m 38s
True Declination
0° 00' 00"
Sunlit
Visualization orbit readout
Latitude
Unknown
Longitude
Unknown
Altitude
Unknown
Speed
Unknown
Apparent Right ascension
Unknown
Apparent Declination
Unknown
Sunlit
Visualization observer readout
Local Sidereal Time
02:15:44
Azimuth
Unknown
Elevation
Unknown
Doppler factor
Unknown
Orbital elements
Apogee altitude
776.083 km
Perigee altitude
773.179 km
Semi-major axis
7,152.768 km
Eccentricity
0.0002
Inclination
86.4044°
RAAN
171.4088°
Arg. of periapsis
81.7284°
True anomaly
278.39119°
Mean anomaly
278.4142°
Eccentric anomaly
278.40269°
Mean motion
3.58783 °/min
Orbital period
100.34 mins
BSTAR
0.00003814
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Other satellites on launch #61 in the year 2018 (2018-07-25 UTC)
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You can import UDL-sourced sensor .json files into the Sandbox to generate a visibility chart that accounts for multi-vendor sensor geometry.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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 mins | 2025-09-16 18:55:51.788Z | 188.206° SSW | 2025-09-16 18:58:51.788Z | 224.15° SW | 43.628° | 2025-09-16 19:03:51.788Z | 359.11° N |
| 7 mins | 2025-09-17 05:26:51.788Z | 35.738° NE | 2025-09-17 05:29:51.788Z | 83.797° E | 23.815° | 2025-09-17 05:33:51.788Z | 135.244° SSE |
| 8 mins | 2025-09-17 07:06:51.788Z | 331.006° NNW | 2025-09-17 07:09:51.788Z | 286.749° WNW | 28.266° | 2025-09-17 07:14:51.788Z | 213.327° SW |
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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