Birkeland

LIVE
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Link to this page

https://orbinauts.com/satellites/55015

  • BIRKELAND
  • NORAD 55015
  • 2023-001G
  • Low Earth orbit

Current orbit

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

Orbit began over the Indian Ocean

Orbit ends over the Indian Ocean

In the Earth’s shadow since

Back in sunlight

Past trackNext orbits

In view from you

Nobody watches Birkeland 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 Birkeland, 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 Indian Ocean LIVE

Where is Birkeland?

At 5:36:14 PM UTC Birkeland was over the Indian Ocean (27.4° S, 73° E), 446 km up, moving at 7.65 km/s and in the Earth’s shadow.

What is Birkeland?

A satellite in low Earth orbit, in space since Jan 3, 2023.

Can I see Birkeland?

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

General

Operator
National Aerospace Lab
State
Netherlands, Kingdom of
Built by
NanoAvionics
Launched
Mass
10 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
5:36 PM UTC
Station time (UTC)
5:36 PM UTC
Latitude / longitude
27.4° S, 73° E
Altitude
446 km
Speed
7.65 km/s (27,522 km/h)
Course
north
Light
In the Earth’s shadow until 6:04 PM UTC
Inclination
97.3°
Orbital period
93.4 minutes
Orbits per day
15.42
This orbit
433 to 439 km
In shadow
35 minutes of each orbit
In view from
Within 1,450 km of the point below it
Elements epoch
Nov 8, 2026, 3:42 AM, 13 hours old
Source
Position from Space-Track orbital elements of Nov 8, 2026, 3:42 AM, 13 hours old.

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

In orbit

Close approaches
No close approach to Birkeland 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.

Launched with

Birkeland shares its launch, 2023-001, with 26 other bodies the catalogue lists in orbit.

BodyWhat it is
OBJECT AEarth-watching satellite
MENUTEarth-watching satellite
BRO-8Satellite
CONNECTA T1.2Communications satellite
OBJECT HSatellite
LYNK TOWER 4Communications satellite
SKYKRAFT-1Satellite
CONTINUUM-1Earth-watching satellite
LYNK TOWER 3Communications satellite
NUSAT-33 (ALBANIA-2)Earth-watching satellite
NUSAT-35 (WILLIAMINA)Earth-watching satellite
ION SCV-008Satellite
EOSSAT-1Earth-watching satellite
SKYKRAFT-1ACommunications satellite
VIGORIDE 5Satellite
ION SCV-007Satellite
SKYKRAFT-1CCommunications satellite
YAM-5Satellite
HUYGENSSatellite
KUWAITSAT-1Satellite
SHARJAHSAT-1Satellite
AAC-AIS-SAT-1Communications satellite
ASTROCAST-0402Communications satellite
ASTROCAST-0401Communications satellite
ASTROCAST-0403Communications satellite
ASTROCAST-0404Communications 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, 3:42 AM, 13 hours old.

{
  "OBJECT_NAME": "BIRKELAND",
  "OBJECT_ID": "2023-001G",
  "EPOCH": "2026-11-08T03:42:33.806016",
  "MEAN_MOTION": 15.42355356,
  "ECCENTRICITY": 0.00046508,
  "INCLINATION": 97.3206,
  "RA_OF_ASC_NODE": 20.5886,
  "ARG_OF_PERICENTER": 315.3661,
  "MEAN_ANOMALY": 44.7211,
  "EPHEMERIS_TYPE": 0,
  "CLASSIFICATION_TYPE": "U",
  "NORAD_CAT_ID": 55015,
  "ELEMENT_SET_NO": 999,
  "REV_AT_EPOCH": 21452,
  "BSTAR": 0.0003359072,
  "MEAN_MOTION_DOT": 0.00014416,
  "MEAN_MOTION_DDOT": 0
}