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TIROS 9, 978

Orbit data source: Space-Track

TIROS 9, 978 is a payload satellite owned by GSFC (US) in SSO that was launched on Fri, 22 Jan 1965 UTC via a THOR DELTA C 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/978?theme=dark&initialShowStats=false

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ISO8601 Format

Identifier

978, 1965-004A

Orbit

SSO

Country

Related business

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (US)

Manufacturer

RCA/East Windsor

Mission

Non-operational Civil Weather

Bus & Motor

TIROS I, Unknown motor

Mass

138 kg wet, 138 kg dry

Launch date (UTC)

1965-01-22 (61 years ago)

Launch vehicle

THOR DELTA C

Launch site

Air Force Eastern Test Range (AFETR)

Object type

Payload

Rocket body

Debris

Shape & HBR

Cyl, 0.5 m

Radar Cross Section

0.920 m², Medium (>0.1 m² and < 1m²)

Expand to show TLE details & history
Last TLE update: 15 hours ago

TLE from 15 hours ago

0 TIROS 9
1 00978U 65004A   25260.76633459  .00000139  00000-0  20413-3 0  9993
2 00978  96.4026 178.1620 1156427 264.0635  82.7752 12.11117144678634

Epoch: 2025-09-17T18:23Z

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2025-09-17T18:23:31.308Z)

Latitude

0°

Longitude

-94.65602°

Altitude

1,624.49 km

Speed

7.063 km/s

True Right ascension

11h 52m 38s

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

01:52:29

Azimuth

Unknown

Elevation

Unknown

Doppler factor

Unknown

Orbital elements

Apogee altitude

2,554.713 km

Perigee altitude

702.832 km

Semi-major axis

8,006.909 km

Eccentricity

0.11564

Inclination

96.4026°

RAAN

178.162°

Arg. of periapsis

264.0635°

True anomaly

96.04503°

Mean anomaly

82.7752°

Eccentric anomaly

89.40068°

Mean motion

3.02932 °/min

Orbital period

118.84 mins

BSTAR

0.00020413

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Other satellites on launch #4 in the year 1965 (1965-01-22 UTC)

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TIROS 9 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.
13 mins	2025-09-18 09:02:48.874Z	336.293° NNW	2025-09-18 09:07:48.874Z	301.125° NW	27.895°	2025-09-18 09:15:48.874Z	249.096° W
17 mins	2025-09-18 16:23:48.874Z	92.567° ESE	2025-09-18 16:30:48.874Z	53.179° ENE	23.052°	2025-09-18 16:40:48.874Z	5.865° NNE
22 mins	2025-09-18 18:16:48.874Z	157.155° SSE	2025-09-18 18:25:48.874Z	75.648° E	44.417°	2025-09-18 18:38:48.874Z	352.064° N
19 mins	2025-09-18 20:16:48.874Z	227.124° WSW	2025-09-18 20:24:48.874Z	280.669° WNW	27.47°	2025-09-18 20:35:48.874Z	335.12° NNW
11 mins	2025-09-19 04:53:48.874Z	44.059° NE	2025-09-19 04:58:48.874Z	69.722° E	15.289°	2025-09-19 05:04:48.874Z	104.921° ESE
21 mins	2025-09-19 06:47:48.874Z	14.201° NNE	2025-09-19 06:59:48.874Z	108.225° ESE	43.333°	2025-09-19 07:08:48.874Z	180.363° SSW
17 mins	2025-09-19 08:45:48.874Z	355.906° N	2025-09-19 08:55:48.874Z	298.96° NW	29.961°	2025-09-19 09:02:48.874Z	248.169° W

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 TIROS 9, 978 on other resources

View TIROS 9, 978 on NASA - NSSDCA Website

View TIROS 9, 978 on Heavens-Above

View TIROS 9, 978 on Keep Track

View TIROS 9, 978 on Celestrak

View TIROS 9, 978 on Gunter's Space Page

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

TIROS 9, 978

Orbit data source: Space-Track

Expand to show TLE details & historyLast TLE update: 15 hours ago

TLE from 15 hours ago

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2025-09-17T18:23:31.308Z)

Visualization orbit readout

Visualization observer readout

Orbital elements

Other satellites on launch #4 in the year 1965 (1965-01-22 UTC)

TIROS 9 Visibility forecast

Co-orbital & Co-planar RSOs

Check out TIROS 9, 978 on other resources

Documentation

Expand to show TLE details & history
Last TLE update: 15 hours ago