- Military
- LDPE-3A
- NORAD 55264
- 2023-008B
- Medium Earth orbit
Current orbit
View on live mapOrbit began over the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Orbit ends over the Democratic Republic of the Congo
In view from you
Nobody watches LDPE 3A 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 LDPE 3A, 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
- Rendezvous
LDPE 3A came up beside Shi Jian 23, from October 2024, as public sources state. Its sources
Summary
Over the Democratic Republic of the Congo LIVE
Where is LDPE 3A?
At 6:20:27 PM UTC LDPE 3A was over the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2.7° S, 28.5° E), 36,111 km up, moving at 3.06 km/s and in sunlight.
What is LDPE 3A?
A satellite in medium Earth orbit, in space since Jan 15, 2023.
Can I see LDPE 3A?
No, not with the naked eye: no brightness has been published for LDPE 3A, and nothing here estimates one.
General
- Operator
- US Air Force Research Laboratories/RV (Space Vehicles Directorate)
- State
- United States of America
- Built by
- Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems
- Military
- Yes: a defence organisation flies it
- Launched
- Mass
- 500 kg
- Operating
- Yes
- Orbit class
- Medium Earth orbit
From GCAT, Jonathan McDowell’s general catalogue, licensed CC BY 4.0: the operator, the state, the manufacturer, that a defence organisation flies it, 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
- 2.7° S, 28.5° E
- Altitude
- 36,111 km
- Speed
- 3.06 km/s (11,023 km/h)
- Course
- west
- Light
- In sunlight
- Inclination
- 2.7°
- Orbital period
- 1,451.8 minutes
- Orbits per day
- 0.99
- This orbit
- 36,078 to 36,112 km
- In shadow
- None of this orbit
- In view from
- Within 7,950 km of the point below it
- Elements epoch
- Nov 8, 2026, 12:50 AM, 17 hours old
- Source
- Position from Space-Track orbital elements of Nov 8, 2026, 12:50 AM, 17 hours old.
No operator publishes an ephemeris for LDPE 3A, so every position here comes from its orbital elements.
In orbit
- Close approaches
- No close approach to LDPE 3A 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
LDPE 3A shares its launch, 2023-008, with 4 other bodies the catalogue lists in orbit.
| Body | What it is |
|---|---|
| USA 342 | Communications satellite |
| FALCON HEAVY R/B | Rocket body |
| FALCON HEAVY DEB | Debris |
| LDPE-3A DEB | Debris |
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, 12:50 AM, 17 hours old.
{
"OBJECT_NAME": "LDPE-3A",
"OBJECT_ID": "2023-008B",
"EPOCH": "2026-11-08T00:50:48.300864",
"MEAN_MOTION": 0.99185642,
"ECCENTRICITY": 0.00040097,
"INCLINATION": 2.7184,
"RA_OF_ASC_NODE": 79.7707,
"ARG_OF_PERICENTER": 99.6981,
"MEAN_ANOMALY": 271.7967,
"EPHEMERIS_TYPE": 0,
"CLASSIFICATION_TYPE": "U",
"NORAD_CAT_ID": 55264,
"ELEMENT_SET_NO": 999,
"REV_AT_EPOCH": 1324,
"BSTAR": 0,
"MEAN_MOTION_DOT": 2.9e-7,
"MEAN_MOTION_DDOT": 0
}