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VELA 1, 692

Orbit data source: Space-Track

VELA 1, 692 is a payload satellite owned by USAF SSD (US) in HEO that was launched on Thu, 17 Oct 1963 UTC via an ATLAS AGENA D launch vehicle from the Air Force Eastern Test Range (AFETR). 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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https://www.satcat.com/sats-embedded/692?theme=dark&initialShowStats=false

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ISO8601 Format

Identifier

692, 1963-039C

Orbit

HEO

Country

Related business

United States Space Force (US)

Manufacturer

TRW

Mission

Spacecraft

Bus & Motor

VELA, BE3A

Mass

~207 kg wet, 115 kg dry

Launch date (UTC)

1963-10-17 (63 years ago)

Launch vehicle

ATLAS AGENA D

Launch site

Air Force Eastern Test Range (AFETR)

Object type

Payload

Rocket body

Debris

Shape & HBR

POLY, 1.1 m

Radar Cross Section

Large (>1 m²)

Expand to show TLE details & history
Last TLE update: 2 weeks ago

TLE from 2 weeks ago

0 VELA 1
1 00692U 63039C   26246.64073463 -.00000560  00000-0  00000-0 0  9993
2 00692  33.7681  45.3484 5262132 227.7809   0.9690  0.21985686 13341

Epoch: 2026-09-03T15:22Z

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-09-03T15:22:39.472Z)

Latitude

-24.48264°

Longitude

54.89587°

Altitude

49,328.861 km

Speed

3.298 km/s

True Right ascension

17h 53m 20s

True Declination

-24° 27' 58"

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

02:45:25

Azimuth

Unknown

Elevation

Unknown

Doppler factor

Unknown

Orbital elements

Apogee altitude

170,602.277 km

Perigee altitude

48,562.407 km

Semi-major axis

115,960.479 km

Eccentricity

0.52621

Inclination

33.7681°

RAAN

45.3484°

Arg. of periapsis

227.7809°

True anomaly

3.66904°

Mean anomaly

0.969°

Eccentric anomaly

2.04474°

Mean motion

0.05496 °/min

Orbital period

6,549.74 mins

BSTAR

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Other satellites on launch #39 in the year 1963 (1963-10-17 UTC)

VELA 2, 674

ERS 12, 675 (Decayed)

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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.

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VELA 1 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.
530 mins	2026-09-14 10:12:16.707Z	123.53° SE	2026-09-14 12:28:16.707Z	183.74° SSW	67.16°	2026-09-14 19:02:16.707Z	288.473° WNW
169 mins	2026-09-15 07:23:16.707Z	63.818° ENE	2026-09-15 10:12:16.707Z	83.762° E	39.52°	2026-09-15 10:12:16.707Z	83.762° E

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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 VELA 1, 692 on other resources

View VELA 1, 692 on NASA - NSSDCA Website

View VELA 1, 692 on Heavens-Above

View VELA 1, 692 on Keep Track

View VELA 1, 692 on Celestrak

View VELA 1, 692 on Gunter's Space Page

Satcat and Kayhan Space are not affiliated with NASA, Celestrak, Heavens-Above, Keep Track, or Gunter's Space Page.

VELA 1, 692

Orbit data source: Space-Track

Expand to show TLE details & historyLast TLE update: 2 weeks ago

TLE from 2 weeks ago

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-09-03T15:22:39.472Z)

Visualization orbit readout

Visualization observer readout

Orbital elements

Other satellites on launch #39 in the year 1963 (1963-10-17 UTC)

VELA 1 Visibility forecast

Co-orbital & Co-planar RSOs

Check out VELA 1, 692 on other resources

Documentation

Expand to show TLE details & history
Last TLE update: 2 weeks ago