Nauka

LIVE
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Link to this page

https://orbinauts.com/satellites/49044

  • ISS (NAUKA)
  • NORAD 49044
  • 2021-066A
  • Low Earth orbit

Current orbit

Where Nauka is on the world map, with the orbit it is flying
View on live map

Orbit began over the Atlantic Ocean

Orbit ends over the Atlantic Ocean

In the Earth’s shadow since

Back in sunlight

Past trackNext orbits

In view from you

Nobody watches Nauka 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 Nauka, 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 People's Republic of China LIVE

Where is Nauka?

At 6:41:20 PM UTC Nauka was over the People's Republic of China (38.8° N, 117° E), 425 km up, moving at 7.66 km/s and in the Earth’s shadow.

What is Nauka?

A satellite in low Earth orbit, in space since Jul 21, 2021.

Can I see Nauka?

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

General

Operator
RKK Energiya
State
Russian Federation
Built by
Khrunichev State Research and Production Center
Launched
Mass
about 19.6 t
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
6:41 PM UTC
Station time (UTC)
6:41 PM UTC
Latitude / longitude
38.8° N, 117° E
Altitude
425 km
Speed
7.66 km/s (27,576 km/h)
Course
south-east
Light
In the Earth’s shadow until 6:51 PM UTC
Inclination
51.6°
Orbital period
92.9 minutes
Orbits per day
15.49
This orbit
415 to 424 km
In shadow
34 minutes of each orbit
In view from
Within 1,400 km of the point below it
Elements epoch
Nov 8, 2026, 4:12 AM, 14 hours old
Source
Position from Space-Track orbital elements of Nov 8, 2026, 4:12 AM, 14 hours old.

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

In orbit

Close approaches
No close approach to Nauka 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.

See every close approach reported in orbit.

Data and API

The current elements from Space-Track as an OMM object, epoch Nov 8, 2026, 4:12 AM, 14 hours old.

{
  "OBJECT_NAME": "ISS (NAUKA)",
  "OBJECT_ID": "2021-066A",
  "EPOCH": "2026-11-08T04:12:35.430048",
  "MEAN_MOTION": 15.49256954,
  "ECCENTRICITY": 0.0007219,
  "INCLINATION": 51.632,
  "RA_OF_ASC_NODE": 307.5621,
  "ARG_OF_PERICENTER": 1.6306,
  "MEAN_ANOMALY": 358.4705,
  "EPHEMERIS_TYPE": 0,
  "CLASSIFICATION_TYPE": "U",
  "NORAD_CAT_ID": 49044,
  "ELEMENT_SET_NO": 999,
  "REV_AT_EPOCH": 58680,
  "BSTAR": 0.00023266166,
  "MEAN_MOTION_DOT": 0.00012511,
  "MEAN_MOTION_DDOT": 0
}