IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 46965

Orbit data source: Space-Track

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 46965 is space debris in LEO originally from a launch on Sun, 14 Sep 1997 UTC launched from the Tyuratam Missile And Space Complex (TTMTR). The debris from Iridium 33, an American commercial communications satellite, has been tracked extensively since its accidental collision with the defunct Russian satellite Cosmos 2251 in 2009. This event, occurring at high speed in low Earth orbit (LEO), generated thousands of pieces of space debris, significantly increasing the risk of further collisions. The Iridium 33 debris cloud has impacted space traffic management and orbital debris mitigation strategies, making it a subject of ongoing study in space situational awareness.

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https://www.satcat.com/sats-embedded/46965?theme=dark&initialShowStats=false

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Identifier

46965, 1997-051ABX

Orbit

LEO

Country

Related business

Iridium Communications Inc. (US)

Manufacturer

Unknown

Mission

Spacecraft

Bus & Motor

Unknown

Mass

Unknown

Launch date (UTC)

1997-09-14 (29 years ago)

Launch vehicle

Unknown

Launch site

Tyuratam Missile And Space Complex (TTMTR)

Object type

Payload

Rocket body

Debris

Shape & HBR

Unknown shape, 0.050 m

Radar Cross Section

Small (<0.1 m²)

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Last TLE update: 1 day ago

TLE from 1 day ago

0 IRIDIUM 33 DEB
1 46965U 97051ABX 26267.30785910  .00002218  00000-0  43666-3 0  9999
2 46965  86.3363 213.8252 0021672  73.9486  78.1773 14.62002900664383

Epoch: 2026-09-24T07:23Z

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-09-24T07:23:19.026Z)

Latitude

27.60998°

Longitude

-82.05936°

Altitude

687.15 km

Speed

7.517 km/s

True Right ascension

02h 07m 39s

True Declination

27° 28' 03"

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

08:04:20

Azimuth

Unknown

Elevation

Unknown

Doppler factor

Unknown

Orbital elements

Apogee altitude

698.945 km

Perigee altitude

668.336 km

Semi-major axis

7,061.778 km

Eccentricity

0.00217

Inclination

86.3363°

RAAN

213.8252°

Arg. of periapsis

73.9486°

True anomaly

78.42051°

Mean anomaly

78.1773°

Eccentric anomaly

78.29889°

Mean motion

3.6574 °/min

Orbital period

98.43 mins

BSTAR

0.00043666

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Other satellites on launch #51 in the year 1997 (1997-09-14 UTC)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35300 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 46436 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34144 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34152 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34103 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33958 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34372 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35080 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34892 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34089 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 36495 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 46966 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34697 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35294 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 38472 (Decayed)

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IRIDIUM 33 DEB 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	2026-09-25 20:35:04.215Z	159.523° S	2026-09-25 20:39:04.215Z	104.001° ESE	44.19°	2026-09-25 20:43:04.215Z	19.238° NNE
4 mins	2026-09-25 22:17:04.215Z	261.765° W	2026-09-25 22:18:04.215Z	276.251° WNW	15.838°	2026-09-25 22:21:04.215Z	318.292° NNW
8 mins	2026-09-26 08:33:04.215Z	359.263° N	2026-09-26 08:37:04.215Z	157.913° S	75.679°	2026-09-26 08:41:04.215Z	176.765° S

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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 33 DEB, 46965 on other resources

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 46965 on Heavens-Above

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 46965 on Keep Track

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 46965 on Celestrak

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 46965 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 33 DEB, 46965

Orbit data source: Space-Track

Expand to show TLE details & historyLast TLE update: 1 day ago

TLE from 1 day ago

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-09-24T07:23:19.026Z)

Visualization orbit readout

Visualization observer readout

Orbital elements

Other satellites on launch #51 in the year 1997 (1997-09-14 UTC)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB Visibility forecast

Co-orbital & Co-planar RSOs

Check out IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 46965 on other resources

Documentation

Expand to show TLE details & history
Last TLE update: 1 day ago