- Military
- USA 23
- NORAD 18009
- 1987-043E
- Low Earth orbit
Current orbit
View on live mapOrbit began over Russia
Orbit ends over Russia
Sunlit since
Enters the Earth’s shadow
In view from you
Nobody watches USA-23 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 USA-23, 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
Summary
Over the Southern Ocean LIVE
Where is USA-23?
At 7:03:36 PM UTC USA-23 was over the Southern Ocean (62.4° S, 129° W), 1,451 km up, moving at 6.89 km/s and in sunlight.
What is USA-23?
A satellite in low Earth orbit, in space since May 15, 1987.
Can I see USA-23?
No, not with the naked eye: no brightness has been published for USA-23, and nothing here estimates one.
General
- Operator
- National Reconnaissance Office
- State
- United States of America
- Built by
- Martin Marietta
- 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
- 7:03 PM UTC
- Station time (UTC)
- 7:03 PM UTC
- Latitude / longitude
- 62.4° S, 129° W
- Altitude
- 1,451 km
- Speed
- 6.89 km/s (24,800 km/h)
- Course
- east
- Light
- In sunlight until 7:47 PM UTC
- Inclination
- 63.3°
- Orbital period
- 103.6 minutes
- Orbits per day
- 13.89
- This orbit
- 368 to 1,491 km
- In shadow
- 27 minutes of each orbit
- In view from
- Within 2,960 km of the point below it
- Elements epoch
- Nov 8, 2026, 7:29 AM, 11 hours old
- Source
- Position from Space-Track orbital elements of Nov 8, 2026, 7:29 AM, 11 hours old.
No operator publishes an ephemeris for USA-23, so every position here comes from its orbital elements.
In orbit
- Close approaches
- No close approach to USA-23 has been reported publicly in the past thirty days.
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
USA-23 shares its launch, 1987-043, with 4 other bodies the catalogue lists in orbit.
| Body | What it is |
|---|---|
| USA 22 | Satellite |
| ATLAS H R/B | Rocket body |
| USA 24 | Satellite |
| USA 25 | Satellite |
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, 7:29 AM, 11 hours old.
{
"OBJECT_NAME": "USA 23",
"OBJECT_ID": "1987-043E",
"EPOCH": "2026-11-08T07:29:53.637504",
"MEAN_MOTION": 13.89406065,
"ECCENTRICITY": 0.07685427,
"INCLINATION": 63.2941,
"RA_OF_ASC_NODE": 312.8671,
"ARG_OF_PERICENTER": 108.0872,
"MEAN_ANOMALY": 260.5384,
"EPHEMERIS_TYPE": 0,
"CLASSIFICATION_TYPE": "U",
"NORAD_CAT_ID": 18009,
"ELEMENT_SET_NO": 999,
"REV_AT_EPOCH": 36550,
"BSTAR": 0.00044352015,
"MEAN_MOTION_DOT": 0.00007195,
"MEAN_MOTION_DDOT": 0
}