- Military
- OPS 6679 (VELA 8)
- NORAD 2766
- 1967-040B
- Highly elliptical orbit
Current orbit
View on live mapOrbit began over the Atlantic Ocean
Orbit ends over Egypt
In view from you
Nobody watches Vela IV-B 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 Vela IV-B, 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 India LIVE
Where is Vela IV-B?
At 6:52:06 PM UTC Vela IV-B was over India (30.1° N, 79.9° E), 77,516 km up, moving at 2.48 km/s and in sunlight.
What is Vela IV-B?
A satellite in a highly elliptical orbit, in space since Apr 28, 1967.
Can I see Vela IV-B?
No, not with the naked eye: no brightness has been published for Vela IV-B, and nothing here estimates one.
General
- Operator
- US Air Force Space Systems Division
- State
- United States of America
- Built by
- TRW Inc.
- Military
- Yes: a defence organisation flies it
- Launched
- Mass
- 221 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, 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
- 6:52 PM UTC
- Station time (UTC)
- 6:52 PM UTC
- Latitude / longitude
- 30.1° N, 79.9° E
- Altitude
- 77,516 km
- Speed
- 2.48 km/s (8,921 km/h)
- Course
- west
- Light
- In sunlight
- Inclination
- 37.6°
- Orbital period
- 6,764.1 minutes
- Orbits per day
- 0.21
- This orbit
- 57,688 to 166,511 km
- In view from
- Within 8,420 km of the point below it
- Elements epoch
- Nov 9, 2026, 4:18 AM, 0 seconds old
- Source
- Position from Space-Track orbital elements of Nov 9, 2026, 4:18 AM, 0 seconds old.
No operator publishes an ephemeris for Vela IV-B, so every position here comes from its orbital elements.
In orbit
- Close approaches
- No close approach to Vela IV-B 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
Vela IV-B shares its launch, 1967-040, with 2 other bodies the catalogue lists in orbit.
| Body | What it is |
|---|---|
| OPS 6638 (VELA 7) | Satellite |
| TITAN 3C TRANSTAGE R/B | Rocket body |
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 9, 2026, 4:18 AM, 0 seconds old.
{
"OBJECT_NAME": "OPS 6679 (VELA 8)",
"OBJECT_ID": "1967-040B",
"EPOCH": "2026-11-09T04:18:04.901760",
"MEAN_MOTION": 0.21288718,
"ECCENTRICITY": 0.45925165,
"INCLINATION": 37.5884,
"RA_OF_ASC_NODE": 1.868,
"ARG_OF_PERICENTER": 128.866,
"MEAN_ANOMALY": 0.1175,
"EPHEMERIS_TYPE": 0,
"CLASSIFICATION_TYPE": "U",
"NORAD_CAT_ID": 2766,
"ELEMENT_SET_NO": 999,
"REV_AT_EPOCH": 578,
"BSTAR": 0,
"MEAN_MOTION_DOT": -0.00000947,
"MEAN_MOTION_DDOT": 0
}