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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46972 intel report (Beta)
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Edit Public Description
Identifier
Orbit
Country
USRelated business
Manufacturer
Unknown
Mission
Spacecraft
Bus & Motor
Unknown
Mass
Unknown
Launch date (UTC)
Launch vehicle
Unknown
Launch site
Object type
Shape & HBR
Unknown
Radar Cross Section
Small (<0.1 m²)
Expand to show TLE details & historyLast TLE update: 3 days ago
TLE from 3 days ago
0 IRIDIUM 33 DEB
1 46972U 97051ACE 25258.26396156 .00002268 00000-0 57981-3 0 9991
2 46972 86.3813 77.4761 0011223 52.2447 70.8335 14.50037367602903Epoch: 2025-09-15T06:20Z
TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2025-09-15T06:20:06.278Z)
Latitude
56.72451°
Longitude
162.47852°
Altitude
732.503 km
Speed
7.496 km/s
True Right ascension
16h 47m 54s
True Declination
56° 33' 58"
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
15:39:20
Azimuth
Unknown
Elevation
Unknown
Doppler factor
Unknown
Orbital elements
Apogee altitude
730.438 km
Perigee altitude
714.5 km
Semi-major axis
7,100.606 km
Eccentricity
0.00112
Inclination
86.3813°
RAAN
77.4761°
Arg. of periapsis
52.2447°
True anomaly
70.95503°
Mean anomaly
70.8335°
Eccentric anomaly
70.89426°
Mean motion
3.62744 °/min
Orbital period
99.24 mins
BSTAR
0.00057981
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Other satellites on launch #51 in the year 1997 (1997-09-14 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 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 | 2025-09-17 22:56:19.862Z | 31.294° NE | 2025-09-17 22:59:19.862Z | 70.005° E | 18.968° | 2025-09-17 23:03:19.862Z | 124.657° SE |
| 7 mins | 2025-09-18 00:36:19.862Z | 333.973° NNW | 2025-09-18 00:39:19.862Z | 280.497° WNW | 32.296° | 2025-09-18 00:43:19.862Z | 209.905° SW |
| 7 mins | 2025-09-18 11:44:19.862Z | 144.01° SSE | 2025-09-18 11:47:19.862Z | 94.758° ESE | 30.035° | 2025-09-18 11:51:19.862Z | 24.649° NE |
| 5 mins | 2025-09-18 13:25:19.862Z | 248.945° W | 2025-09-18 13:27:19.862Z | 281.114° WNW | 20.42° | 2025-09-18 13:30:19.862Z | 325.271° NNW |
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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