- Military
- NORAD 10594
- 1977-112F
- Low Earth orbit
Current orbit
View on live mapOrbit began over the Atlantic Ocean
Orbit ends over the Atlantic Ocean
In view from you
Nobody watches SS 3 go over, but a receiver still asks whether it is above the horizon. Say where you are and this card answers.
Your position is rounded to about a kilometre and sent only to the Orbinauts API, to find the pass.
No brightness has been published for SS 3, so it is not a naked-eye satellite and no city page carries pass times for it. Nothing here estimates one.
Seeing it
There is nothing to go outside for: it is too faint to see with the naked eye from anywhere on Earth.
Timeline
- Launch
Launched, on the day GCAT records. Source
- Close approachStill to come
On Monday, Nov 9 at 8:40 AM UTC, a fragment of Delta 1 (NORAD 20008) passes within 358 m of SS 3 (NORAD 10594). The chance of a collision is about 1 in 700.
Summary
Over Canada LIVE
Where is SS 3?
At 7:05:02 PM UTC SS 3 was over Canada (62.7° N, 108.8° W), 760 km up, moving at 7.55 km/s and in sunlight.
What is SS 3?
A satellite in low Earth orbit, in space since Dec 8, 1977.
Can I see SS 3?
No, not with the naked eye: no brightness has been published for SS 3, and nothing here estimates one.
General
- Operator
- National Reconnaissance Office
- State
- United States of America
- Built by
- Naval Research Lab
- Military
- Yes: a defence organisation flies it
- Launched
- Mass
- 200 kg
- Operating
- No: its regular operations have ended
- Orbit class
- Low Earth orbit
From GCAT, Jonathan McDowell’s general catalogue, licensed CC BY 4.0: the operator, the state, the manufacturer, that a defence organisation flies it, the launch day, the mass, and whether it is operating. The orbit class is read from its current elements.
Latest orbital data
- Position received
- 7:05 PM UTC
- Station time (UTC)
- 7:05 PM UTC
- Latitude / longitude
- 62.7° N, 108.8° W
- Altitude
- 760 km
- Speed
- 7.55 km/s (27,176 km/h)
- Course
- east
- Light
- In sunlight
- Inclination
- 63.3°
- Orbital period
- 102.6 minutes
- Orbits per day
- 14.03
- This orbit
- 543 to 1,220 km
- In shadow
- None of this orbit
- In view from
- Within 2,040 km of the point below it
- Elements epoch
- Nov 8, 2026, 4:55 AM, 14 hours old
- Source
- Position from Space-Track orbital elements of Nov 8, 2026, 4:55 AM, 14 hours old.
No operator publishes an ephemeris for SS 3, so every position here comes from its orbital elements.
In orbit
- Close approaches
- 1 reported. On Monday, Nov 9 at 8:40 AM UTC, a fragment of Delta 1 (NORAD 20008) passes within 358 m of SS 3 (NORAD 10594). The chance of a collision is about 1 in 700.
From Space-Track’s public conjunction messages; the latest report was issued Nov 8, 2026, 1:11 PM, 3 hours old. Only approaches serious enough to be reported publicly are listed: within three days and, for two bodies near the Earth, closer than a kilometre with a chance of a collision above 1 in 10,000, the level at which NASA moves the ISS.
Launched with
SS 3 shares its launch, 1977-112, with 3 other bodies the catalogue lists in orbit.
Read from the international designators of the US catalogue: the year and the launch number every piece of one launch shares. A body that has come down is no longer listed.
Data and API
The current elements from Space-Track as an OMM object, epoch Nov 8, 2026, 4:55 AM, 14 hours old.
{
"OBJECT_NAME": "SS 3",
"OBJECT_ID": "1977-112F",
"EPOCH": "2026-11-08T04:55:33.589632",
"MEAN_MOTION": 14.03241453,
"ECCENTRICITY": 0.04667639,
"INCLINATION": 63.3315,
"RA_OF_ASC_NODE": 122.6774,
"ARG_OF_PERICENTER": 166.024,
"MEAN_ANOMALY": 195.4268,
"EPHEMERIS_TYPE": 0,
"CLASSIFICATION_TYPE": "U",
"NORAD_CAT_ID": 10594,
"ELEMENT_SET_NO": 999,
"REV_AT_EPOCH": 38750,
"BSTAR": 0.00034150744,
"MEAN_MOTION_DOT": 0.00001278,
"MEAN_MOTION_DDOT": 0
}