- UPPER FREE FLYER
- NORAD 43763
- 2018-099F
- Low Earth orbit
Current orbit
View on live mapOrbit began over the Pacific Ocean
Orbit ends over the Pacific Ocean
In the Earth’s shadow since
Back in sunlight
In view from you
Nobody watches Sherpa UFF 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 Sherpa UFF, 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 Indian Ocean LIVE
Where is Sherpa UFF?
At 4:54:24 PM UTC Sherpa UFF was over the Indian Ocean (5.3° N, 55.7° E), 540 km up, moving at 7.59 km/s and in the Earth’s shadow.
What is Sherpa UFF?
A satellite in low Earth orbit, in space since Dec 3, 2018.
Can I see Sherpa UFF?
No, not with the naked eye: no brightness has been published for Sherpa UFF, and nothing here estimates one.
General
- Operator
- Spaceflight Industries Inc.
- State
- United States of America
- Built by
- Spaceflight Industries Inc.
- Launched
- Mass
- about 1.1 t
- Operating
- Orbit class
- Low Earth 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
- 4:54 PM UTC
- Station time (UTC)
- 4:54 PM UTC
- Latitude / longitude
- 5.3° N, 55.7° E
- Altitude
- 540 km
- Speed
- 7.59 km/s (27,320 km/h)
- Course
- north
- Light
- In the Earth’s shadow until 5:12 PM UTC
- Inclination
- 97.4°
- Orbital period
- 95.2 minutes
- Orbits per day
- 15.12
- This orbit
- 517 to 535 km
- In shadow
- 30 minutes of each orbit
- In view from
- Within 1,640 km of the point below it
- Elements epoch
- Nov 8, 2026, 5:46 AM, 11 hours old
- Source
- Position from Space-Track orbital elements of Nov 8, 2026, 5:46 AM, 11 hours old.
No operator publishes an ephemeris for Sherpa UFF, so every position here comes from its orbital elements.
In orbit
- Close approaches
- No close approach to Sherpa UFF 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
Sherpa UFF shares its launch, 2018-099, with 40 other bodies the catalogue lists in orbit.
| Body | What it is |
|---|---|
| MINXSS-2 | Space telescope |
| SIRION PATHFINDER-2 | Communications satellite |
| OBJECT D | Satellite |
| STPSAT-5 | Satellite |
| HAWK-A | Satellite |
| SPAWAR-CAL-O | Satellite |
| CORVUS BC4 | Earth-watching satellite |
| AISTECHSAT-2 | Communications satellite |
| AO-95 | Satellite |
| OBJECT P | Satellite |
| RANGE A | Satellite |
| OBJECT T | Satellite |
| SPAWAR-CAL-R | Satellite |
| SPAWAR-CAL-OR | Satellite |
| M1 | Earth-watching satellite |
| SNUSAT-2 | Satellite |
| KAZSTSAT | Earth-watching satellite |
| SNUGLITE | Satellite |
| ITASAT | Satellite |
| EAGLET 1 | Satellite |
| ESEO | Satellite |
| HAWK-B | Satellite |
| THEA | Satellite |
| SKYSAT C12 | Earth-watching satellite |
| ASTROCAST-01 | Communications satellite |
| HAWK-C | Satellite |
| ICEYE-X2 | Earth-watching satellite |
| JY1SAT | Satellite |
| SUOMI100 | Satellite |
| OBJECT BA | Satellite |
| EUCROPIS | Satellite |
| POLAR SCOUT YUKON | Satellite |
| CENTAURI-1 | Communications satellite |
| OBJECT BE | Satellite |
| NEXTSAT-1 | Space telescope |
| GLOBAL-2 | Earth-watching satellite |
| FALCONSAT-6 | Satellite |
| EXCITE | Satellite |
| SEAHAWK-1 | Satellite |
| OBJECT BS | 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, 5:46 AM, 11 hours old.
{
"OBJECT_NAME": "UPPER FREE FLYER",
"OBJECT_ID": "2018-099F",
"EPOCH": "2026-11-08T05:46:04.321920",
"MEAN_MOTION": 15.12360845,
"ECCENTRICITY": 0.00131431,
"INCLINATION": 97.4179,
"RA_OF_ASC_NODE": 357.3786,
"ARG_OF_PERICENTER": 160.4024,
"MEAN_ANOMALY": 199.7715,
"EPHEMERIS_TYPE": 0,
"CLASSIFICATION_TYPE": "U",
"NORAD_CAT_ID": 43763,
"ELEMENT_SET_NO": 999,
"REV_AT_EPOCH": 43431,
"BSTAR": 0.00031042415,
"MEAN_MOTION_DOT": 0.00005331,
"MEAN_MOTION_DDOT": 0
}