IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 46974

Orbit data source: Space-Track

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 46974 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/46974?theme=dark&initialShowStats=false

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Identifier

46974, 1997-051ACG

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 46974U 97051ACG 25302.76953384  .00010716  00000-0  30368-2 0  9996
2 46974  86.3006 124.4339 0095781 332.1114  27.4969 14.42751656568744

Epoch: 2025-10-29T18:28Z

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2025-10-29T18:28:07.723Z)

Latitude

-0.00009°

Longitude

169.0638°

Altitude

692.055 km

Speed

7.542 km/s

True Right ascension

08h 17m 44s

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

19:28:45

Azimuth

Unknown

Elevation

Unknown

Doppler factor

Unknown

Orbital elements

Apogee altitude

814.615 km

Perigee altitude

678.136 km

Semi-major axis

7,124.512 km

Eccentricity

0.00958

Inclination

86.3006°

RAAN

124.4339°

Arg. of periapsis

332.1114°

True anomaly

28.00908°

Mean anomaly

27.4969°

Eccentric anomaly

27.75244°

Mean motion

3.6092 °/min

Orbital period

99.75 mins

BSTAR

0.0030368

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

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35907

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35919 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34707 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35748 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34361 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35930 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34084 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34527 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 38229

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34367 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33876 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 35629 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 36489 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 34160 (Decayed)

IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 33968 (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.
6 mins	2025-11-02 01:18:11.456Z	314.424° NW	2025-11-02 01:21:11.456Z	271.989° WNW	20.159°	2025-11-02 01:24:11.456Z	235.207° WSW
8 mins	2025-11-02 12:28:11.456Z	177.586° S	2025-11-02 12:32:11.456Z	51.093° ENE	44.621°	2025-11-02 12:36:11.456Z	4.654° NNE
6 mins	2025-11-02 22:56:11.456Z	41.569° NE	2025-11-02 22:59:11.456Z	83.288° E	19.536°	2025-11-02 23:02:11.456Z	120.177° SE

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, 46974 on other resources

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 46974 on Heavens-Above

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 46974 on Keep Track

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 46974 on Celestrak

View IRIDIUM 33 DEB, 46974 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, 46974

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: 2025-10-29T18:28:07.723Z)

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, 46974 on other resources

Documentation

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