- Military
- USA 57
- NORAD 20561
- 1990-031B
- Low Earth orbit
Current orbit
View on live mapOrbit began over Antarctica
Orbit ends over Antarctica
In the Earth’s shadow since
Back in sunlight
In view from you
Nobody watches TEX 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 TEX, 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 People's Republic of China LIVE
Where is TEX?
At 6:20:52 PM UTC TEX was over the People's Republic of China (40.1° N, 118.8° E), 682 km up, moving at 7.51 km/s and in the Earth’s shadow.
What is TEX?
A satellite in low Earth orbit, in space since Apr 11, 1990.
Can I see TEX?
No, not with the naked eye: no brightness has been published for TEX, and nothing here estimates one.
General
- Operator
- US Air Force Space Systems Division
- State
- United States of America
- Built by
- Defense Systems Inc
- Military
- Yes: a defence organisation flies it
- Launched
- Mass
- 67 kg
- Operating
- 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
- 6:20 PM UTC
- Station time (UTC)
- 6:20 PM UTC
- Latitude / longitude
- 40.1° N, 118.8° E
- Altitude
- 682 km
- Speed
- 7.51 km/s (27,022 km/h)
- Course
- south
- Light
- In the Earth’s shadow until 6:42 PM UTC
- Inclination
- 89.9°
- Orbital period
- 97.7 minutes
- Orbits per day
- 14.73
- This orbit
- 603 to 692 km
- In shadow
- 32 minutes of each orbit
- In view from
- Within 1,910 km of the point below it
- Elements epoch
- Nov 8, 2026, 7:55 AM, 10 hours old
- Source
- Position from Space-Track orbital elements of Nov 8, 2026, 7:55 AM, 10 hours old.
No operator publishes an ephemeris for TEX, so every position here comes from its orbital elements.
In orbit
- Close approaches
- No close approach to TEX 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
TEX shares its launch, 1990-031, with 7 other bodies the catalogue lists in orbit.
| Body | What it is |
|---|---|
| USA 56 | Satellite |
| USA 58 | Satellite |
| ATLAS 28E R/B | Rocket body |
| ATLAS 28E DEB | Debris |
| ATLAS 28E DEB | Debris |
| ATLAS 28E DEB | Debris |
| ATLAS 28E DEB | Debris |
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, 7:55 AM, 10 hours old.
{
"OBJECT_NAME": "USA 57",
"OBJECT_ID": "1990-031B",
"EPOCH": "2026-11-08T07:55:43.116096",
"MEAN_MOTION": 14.73371548,
"ECCENTRICITY": 0.0063591,
"INCLINATION": 89.8517,
"RA_OF_ASC_NODE": 262.1081,
"ARG_OF_PERICENTER": 266.8117,
"MEAN_ANOMALY": 92.5826,
"EPHEMERIS_TYPE": 0,
"CLASSIFICATION_TYPE": "U",
"NORAD_CAT_ID": 20561,
"ELEMENT_SET_NO": 999,
"REV_AT_EPOCH": 13640,
"BSTAR": 0.00012550184,
"MEAN_MOTION_DOT": 0.00000854,
"MEAN_MOTION_DDOT": 0
}