- Navigation satellite
- NORAD 43246
- 2018-029B
- Medium Earth orbit
Current orbit
View on live mapOrbit began over the Pacific Ocean
Orbit ends over Mali
In view from you
Nobody watches BEIDOU 3M8 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 BEIDOU 3M8, 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 far too high and too faint for the naked eye. What you notice of it is a position fix, and the card above says whether it is above your horizon to give you one.
Summary
Over Mali LIVE
Where is BEIDOU 3M8?
At 8:57:08 PM UTC BEIDOU 3M8 was over Mali (12.2° N, 6.4° W), 21,520 km up, moving at 3.78 km/s and in sunlight.
What is BEIDOU 3M8?
A navigation satellite in medium Earth orbit, one of the 37 navigation satellites of the BeiDou constellation.
Can I see BEIDOU 3M8?
No, not with the naked eye: no brightness has been published for BEIDOU 3M8, and nothing here estimates one; receivers on the ground use its signals instead, whenever it is above their horizon.
General
BEIDOU 3M8 is one of the 37 navigation satellites of the BeiDou constellation. See every BeiDou satellite and how many are above you right now.
- Known to its operator as
- C30
- Typical altitude
- 21,450 to 21,600 km
Latest orbital data
- Position received
- 8:57 PM UTC
- Station time (UTC)
- 8:57 PM UTC
- Latitude / longitude
- 12.2° N, 6.4° W
- Altitude
- 21,520 km
- Speed
- 3.78 km/s (13,612 km/h)
- Course
- north
- Light
- In sunlight
- Inclination
- 54.1°
- Orbital period
- 773.2 minutes
- Orbits per day
- 1.86
- This orbit
- 21,521 to 21,536 km
- In shadow
- None of this orbit
- In view from
- Within 7,450 km of the point below it
- Elements epoch
- Sep 16, 2026, 3:58 AM, 2 days old
- Source
- Position from Space-Track orbital elements of Sep 16, 2026, 3:58 AM, 2 days old.
No operator publishes an ephemeris for BEIDOU 3M8, so every position here comes from its orbital elements.
In orbit
- Close approaches
- Close approaches to BEIDOU 3M8 are not available right now. Try again in a few minutes.
Beside the others
| Constellation | Satellites | Typical altitude | Orbital period | Planes | Operator |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BeiDou | 37 | 21,450 to 21,600 km | 773 minutes | — | The China Satellite Navigation Office |
| GPS | 32 | 20,000 to 20,400 km | 718 minutes | 6 | The United States Space Force |
| Galileo | 27 | 23,100 to 23,300 km | 845 minutes | — | EUSPA, the European Union Agency for the Space Programme |
| GLONASS | 22 | 19,050 to 19,200 km | 676 minutes | — | Roscosmos, the Russian State Space Corporation |
Data and API
The current elements from Space-Track as an OMM object, epoch Sep 16, 2026, 3:58 AM, 2 days old.
{
"OBJECT_NAME": "BEIDOU 3M8",
"OBJECT_ID": "2018-029B",
"EPOCH": "2026-09-16T03:58:34.642272",
"MEAN_MOTION": 1.86229162,
"ECCENTRICITY": 0.0002715,
"INCLINATION": 54.1065,
"RA_OF_ASC_NODE": 296.785,
"ARG_OF_PERICENTER": 16.3012,
"MEAN_ANOMALY": 343.7622,
"EPHEMERIS_TYPE": 0,
"CLASSIFICATION_TYPE": "U",
"NORAD_CAT_ID": 43246,
"ELEMENT_SET_NO": 999,
"REV_AT_EPOCH": 5757,
"BSTAR": 0,
"MEAN_MOTION_DOT": -5e-7,
"MEAN_MOTION_DDOT": 0
}