Equator-S

LIVE
See on the map

Link to this page

https://orbinauts.com/satellites/25068

  • EQUATOR S
  • NORAD 25068
  • 1997-075B
  • Highly elliptical orbit

Current orbit

Where Equator-S is on the world map, with the orbit it is flying
View on live map

Orbit began over the Pacific Ocean

Orbit ends over the Pacific Ocean

In view from you

Nobody watches Equator-S 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 Equator-S, 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

  1. Launch

    Launched, on the day GCAT records. Source

Summary

Over the Pacific Ocean LIVE

Where is Equator-S?

At 5:40:52 PM UTC Equator-S was over the Pacific Ocean (2° S, 153° E), 48,515 km up, moving at 2.15 km/s and in sunlight.

What is Equator-S?

A satellite in a highly elliptical orbit, in space since Dec 2, 1997.

Can I see Equator-S?

No, not with the naked eye: no brightness has been published for Equator-S, and nothing here estimates one.

General

Operator
Max Planck Institut fur Extraterrestrische Physik
State
Germany, Federal Republic of
Built by
Max Planck Institut fur Extraterrestrische Physik
Launched
Mass
197 kg
Operating
Orbit class
Highly elliptical orbit

From GCAT, Jonathan McDowell’s general catalogue, licensed CC BY 4.0: the operator, the state, the manufacturer, the launch day, the mass, and whether it is operating. The orbit class is read from its current elements.

Latest orbital data

Position received
5:40 PM UTC
Station time (UTC)
5:40 PM UTC
Latitude / longitude
2° S, 153° E
Altitude
48,515 km
Speed
2.15 km/s (7,722 km/h)
Course
west
Light
In sunlight
Inclination
2°
Orbital period
1,336 minutes
Orbits per day
1.08
This orbit
455 to 67,166 km
In shadow
None of this orbit
In view from
Within 8,170 km of the point below it
Elements epoch
Nov 7, 2026, 11:46 PM, 17 hours old
Source
Position from Space-Track orbital elements of Nov 7, 2026, 11:46 PM, 17 hours old.

No operator publishes an ephemeris for Equator-S, so every position here comes from its orbital elements.

In orbit

Close approaches
No close approach to Equator-S 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

Equator-S shares its launch, 1997-075, with one other body the catalogue lists in orbit.

BodyWhat it is
JCSAT 5Communications 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 7, 2026, 11:46 PM, 17 hours old.

{
  "OBJECT_NAME": "EQUATOR S",
  "OBJECT_ID": "1997-075B",
  "EPOCH": "2026-11-07T23:46:52.994496",
  "MEAN_MOTION": 1.07784254,
  "ECCENTRICITY": 0.82998284,
  "INCLINATION": 2.0192,
  "RA_OF_ASC_NODE": 211.9456,
  "ARG_OF_PERICENTER": 52.8145,
  "MEAN_ANOMALY": 356.7164,
  "EPHEMERIS_TYPE": 0,
  "CLASSIFICATION_TYPE": "U",
  "NORAD_CAT_ID": 25068,
  "ELEMENT_SET_NO": 999,
  "REV_AT_EPOCH": 11401,
  "BSTAR": 0.0016890006,
  "MEAN_MOTION_DOT": -0.00000154,
  "MEAN_MOTION_DDOT": 0
}