IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 46972

Orbit data source: Space-Track

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 46972 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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Identifier

46972, 1997-051ACE

Orbit

LEO

Country

Related business

Iridium Communications Inc. (US)

Manufacturer

Unknown

Mission

Spacecraft

Bus & Motor

Unknown

Mass

Unknown

Launch date (UTC)

1997-09-14 (28 years ago)

Launch vehicle

Unknown

Launch site

Tyuratam Missile And Space Complex (TTMTR)

Object type

Payload

Rocket body

Debris

Shape & HBR

Unknown shape, 0.1 m

Radar Cross Section

Small (<0.1 m²)

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Last TLE update: 3 days ago

TLE from 3 days ago

0 IRIDIUM 33 DEB
1 46972U 97051ACE 26035.22156457  .00002948  00000-0  74102-3 0  9998
2 46972  86.3887  16.3705 0007168 296.9315 122.4772 14.50973059623480

Epoch: 2026-02-04T05:19Z

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-02-04T05:19:03.178Z)

Latitude

59.38131°

Longitude

168.30468°

Altitude

735.374 km

Speed

7.491 km/s

True Right ascension

01h 29m 50s

True Declination

59° 13' 48"

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

08:00:44

Azimuth

Unknown

Elevation

Unknown

Doppler factor

Unknown

Orbital elements

Apogee altitude

724.501 km

Perigee altitude

714.326 km

Semi-major axis

7,097.55 km

Eccentricity

0.00072

Inclination

86.3887°

RAAN

16.3705°

Arg. of periapsis

296.9315°

True anomaly

122.54646°

Mean anomaly

122.4772°

Eccentric anomaly

122.51183°

Mean motion

3.62978 °/min

Orbital period

99.18 mins

BSTAR

0.00074102

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

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 36085 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34502 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 38477

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34352 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35847 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34697 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 36566 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 46804 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35628

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35855 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 32, 24945 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35921 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34485 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34835 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34360 (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.
7 mins	2026-02-07 09:45:44.168Z	26.477° NE	2026-02-07 09:48:44.168Z	71.174° E	25.498°	2026-02-07 09:52:44.168Z	135.55° SSE
6 mins	2026-02-07 11:25:44.168Z	323.43° NNW	2026-02-07 11:28:44.168Z	273.626° WNW	24.754°	2026-02-07 11:31:44.168Z	226.955° WSW
8 mins	2026-02-07 22:32:44.168Z	158.539° S	2026-02-07 22:36:44.168Z	66.343° ENE	37.395°	2026-02-07 22:40:44.168Z	13.612° NNE
4 mins	2026-02-08 00:14:44.168Z	265.054° W	2026-02-08 00:15:44.168Z	278.796° WNW	14.999°	2026-02-08 00:18:44.168Z	318.09° NNW

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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, 46972 on other resources

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 46972 on Heavens-Above

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 46972 on Keep Track

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 46972 on Celestrak

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 46972 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, 46972

Orbit data source: Space-Track

Expand to show TLE details & historyLast TLE update: 3 days ago

TLE from 3 days ago

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-02-04T05:19:03.178Z)

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, 46972 on other resources

Documentation

Expand to show TLE details & history
Last TLE update: 3 days ago