- SAUDISAT 5A
- NORAD 43831
- 2018-102A
- Low Earth orbit
Current orbit
View on live mapOrbit began over the Indian Ocean
Orbit ends over the Democratic Republic of the Congo
In the Earth’s shadow since
Back in sunlight
In view from you
Nobody watches Saudisat-5A 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 Saudisat-5A, 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 Yemen LIVE
Where is Saudisat-5A?
At 6:20:40 PM UTC Saudisat-5A was over Yemen (15.4° N, 46.4° E), 475 km up, moving at 7.63 km/s and in the Earth’s shadow.
What is Saudisat-5A?
A satellite in low Earth orbit, in space since Dec 7, 2018.
Can I see Saudisat-5A?
No, not with the naked eye: no brightness has been published for Saudisat-5A, and nothing here estimates one.
General
- Operator
- King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology
- State
- Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of
- Built by
- King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology
- Launched
- Mass
- 425 kg
- Operating
- Yes
- 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
- 6:20 PM UTC
- Station time (UTC)
- 6:20 PM UTC
- Latitude / longitude
- 15.4° N, 46.4° E
- Altitude
- 475 km
- Speed
- 7.63 km/s (27,479 km/h)
- Course
- north
- Light
- In the Earth’s shadow until 6:37 PM UTC
- Inclination
- 97.3°
- Orbital period
- 94.2 minutes
- Orbits per day
- 15.29
- This orbit
- 469 to 481 km
- In shadow
- 33 minutes of each orbit
- In view from
- Within 1,510 km of the point below it
- Elements epoch
- Nov 8, 2026, 7:17 AM, 11 hours old
- Source
- Position from Space-Track orbital elements of Nov 8, 2026, 7:17 AM, 11 hours old.
No operator publishes an ephemeris for Saudisat-5A, so every position here comes from its orbital elements.
In orbit
- Close approaches
- No close approach to Saudisat-5A 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
Saudisat-5A shares its launch, 2018-102, with one other body the catalogue lists in orbit.
| Body | What it is |
|---|---|
| SAUDISAT 5B | 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, 7:17 AM, 11 hours old.
{
"OBJECT_NAME": "SAUDISAT 5A",
"OBJECT_ID": "2018-102A",
"EPOCH": "2026-11-08T07:17:05.339328",
"MEAN_MOTION": 15.29300691,
"ECCENTRICITY": 0.00088544,
"INCLINATION": 97.2895,
"RA_OF_ASC_NODE": 11.0773,
"ARG_OF_PERICENTER": 353.3708,
"MEAN_ANOMALY": 6.7414,
"EPHEMERIS_TYPE": 0,
"CLASSIFICATION_TYPE": "U",
"NORAD_CAT_ID": 43831,
"ELEMENT_SET_NO": 999,
"REV_AT_EPOCH": 43769,
"BSTAR": 0.00030830898,
"MEAN_MOTION_DOT": 0.000087,
"MEAN_MOTION_DDOT": 0
}