DSCS II F-1

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Link to this page

https://orbinauts.com/satellites/5587

  • Communications satellite
  • Military
  • OPS 9431 (DSCS 2-1)
  • NORAD 5587
  • 1971-095A
  • Geostationary

Current orbit

Where DSCS II F-1 is on the world map, with the orbit it is flying
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One orbit takes a day, as long as the Earth takes to turn, so DSCS II F-1 keeps above 104.6° W of the equator and never crosses the sky.

Past trackNext orbits

It never rises or sets

DSCS II F-1 turns with the Earth, standing over one longitude of the equator. From anywhere it can be seen at all it is up day and night, in the same direction, so there is no pass to wait for.

No brightness has been published for DSCS II F-1, 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 wait for: it never crosses the sky. From the half of the Earth it stands over it keeps the same point day and night, and from the other half it never rises at all.

Timeline

  1. Launch

    Launched, on the day GCAT records. Source

Summary

Over the Pacific Ocean LIVE

Where is DSCS II F-1?

At 5:35:34 PM UTC DSCS II F-1 was over the Pacific Ocean (0.8° S, 104.6° W), 35,768 km up, standing over one longitude of the equator and in sunlight.

What is DSCS II F-1?

A communications satellite in geostationary orbit, in space since Nov 3, 1971.

Can I see DSCS II F-1?

No, not with the naked eye, and it never crosses the sky: DSCS II F-1 stands over 104.6° W of the equator; the dishes and receivers on the ground use its signals instead.

General

Operator
USAF Space and Missile Systems Organization
State
United States of America
Built by
TRW Inc.
What it is
Communications satellite
Military
Yes: a defence organisation flies it
Launched
Mass
526 kg
Operating
Orbit class
Geostationary

From GCAT, Jonathan McDowell’s general catalogue, licensed CC BY 4.0: the operator, the state, the manufacturer, what it is for, 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
5:35 PM UTC
Station time (UTC)
5:35 PM UTC
Latitude / longitude
0.8° S, 104.6° W
Altitude
35,768 km
Speed
3.08 km/s (11,074 km/h)
Course
Stands over 104.6° W
Light
In sunlight
Inclination
1.2°
Orbital period
1,436.3 minutes
Orbits per day
1
This orbit
35,759 to 35,823 km
In view from
Within 7,940 km of the point below it
Elements epoch
Nov 8, 2026, 8:34 AM, 9 hours old
Source
Position from Space-Track orbital elements of Nov 8, 2026, 8:34 AM, 9 hours old.

No operator publishes an ephemeris for DSCS II F-1, so every position here comes from its orbital elements.

In orbit

Close approaches
No close approach to DSCS II F-1 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

DSCS II F-1 shares its launch, 1971-095, with 2 other bodies the catalogue lists in orbit.

BodyWhat it is
OPS 9432 (DSCS 2-2)Communications satellite
TITAN 3C TRANSTAGE R/BRocket body

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.

Beside the others

SatelliteTypical altitudeOrbital periodMassIn space since
DSCS II F-135,759 to 35,823 km1,436 minutes526 kg1971
Hispasat 30W-635,786 to 35,786 km1,436 minutesabout 6.1 t2018
Amazonas Nexus35,786 to 35,786 km1,436 minutesabout 4.1 t2023
ARSAT-135,786 to 35,786 km1,436 minutesabout 3 t2014
Astra 1N35,786 to 35,786 km1,436 minutesabout 5.3 t2011
Hotbird 13F35,786 to 35,786 km1,436 minutesabout 4.5 t2022

Data and API

The current elements from Space-Track as an OMM object, epoch Nov 8, 2026, 8:34 AM, 9 hours old.

{
  "OBJECT_NAME": "OPS 9431 (DSCS 2-1)",
  "OBJECT_ID": "1971-095A",
  "EPOCH": "2026-11-08T08:34:08.186016",
  "MEAN_MOTION": 1.00259197,
  "ECCENTRICITY": 0.00075716,
  "INCLINATION": 1.2356,
  "RA_OF_ASC_NODE": 247.2682,
  "ARG_OF_PERICENTER": 7.9599,
  "MEAN_ANOMALY": 176.344,
  "EPHEMERIS_TYPE": 0,
  "CLASSIFICATION_TYPE": "U",
  "NORAD_CAT_ID": 5587,
  "ELEMENT_SET_NO": 999,
  "REV_AT_EPOCH": 12346,
  "BSTAR": 0,
  "MEAN_MOTION_DOT": -8.2e-7,
  "MEAN_MOTION_DDOT": 0
}