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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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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 spacecraft

Bus & Motor

TIROS I, Unknown motor

Mass

138 kg wet, 138 kg dry

Launch date (UTC)

1965-01-22 (62 years ago)

Launch vehicle

THOR DELTA C

Launch site

Air Force Eastern Test Range (AFETR)

Object type

Payload

Rocket body

Debris

Shape & HBR

CYL, 1.1 m

Radar Cross Section

Medium (>0.1 m² and <1 m²)

Expand to show TLE details & history
Last TLE update: 10 hours ago

TLE from 10 hours ago

0 TIROS 9
1 00978U 65004A   26277.50183175  .00000037  00000-0  58524-4 0  9991
2 00978  96.4150  14.3123 1158162 158.6550 206.7209 12.11156732724849

Epoch: 2026-10-04T12:02Z

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-10-04T12:02:38.263Z)

Latitude

-0.00004°

Longitude

-179.54129°

Altitude

2,481.486 km

Speed

6.344 km/s

True Right ascension

00h 57m 14s

True Declination

0° 00' 00"

Sunlit

Object was in full shadow 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

16:10:15

Azimuth

Unknown

Elevation

Unknown

Doppler factor

Unknown

Orbital elements

Apogee altitude

2,555.908 km

Perigee altitude

701.288 km

Semi-major axis

8,006.735 km

Eccentricity

0.11582

Inclination

96.415°

RAAN

14.3123°

Arg. of periapsis

158.655°

True anomaly

201.44659°

Mean anomaly

206.7209°

Eccentric anomaly

204.01979°

Mean motion

3.02942 °/min

Orbital period

118.83 mins

BSTAR

0.000058524

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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.
9 mins	2026-10-05 04:08:16.830Z	85.029° E	2026-10-05 04:13:16.830Z	56.845° ENE	14.706°	2026-10-05 04:17:16.830Z	30.838° NE
19 mins	2026-10-05 05:58:16.830Z	150.288° SSE	2026-10-05 06:09:16.830Z	74.372° E	64.732°	2026-10-05 06:17:16.830Z	358.045° N
18 mins	2026-10-05 07:57:16.830Z	209.728° SW	2026-10-05 08:06:16.830Z	262.633° W	35.061°	2026-10-05 08:15:16.830Z	329.654° NNW
6 mins	2026-10-05 18:30:16.830Z	47.712° ENE	2026-10-05 18:32:16.830Z	81.063° E	27.052°	2026-10-05 18:36:16.830Z	147.835° SSE
5 mins	2026-10-05 20:28:16.830Z	326.427° NNW	2026-10-05 20:30:16.830Z	295.664° NW	20.966°	2026-10-05 20:33:16.830Z	250.764° W

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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 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: 10 hours ago

TLE from 10 hours ago

TLE epoch observation values (Epoch: 2026-10-04T12:02:38.263Z)

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: 10 hours ago