IMP 7

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Link to this page

https://orbinauts.com/satellites/6197

  • EXPLORER 47 (IMP-7)
  • NORAD 6197
  • 1972-073A
  • Highly elliptical orbit

Summary

Over the Bering Sea LIVE

Where is IMP 7?

At on November 15, 2026, IMP 7 was over the Bering Sea (57.2° N, 175.4° E), 289,588 km up, moving at 0.96 km/s and in sunlight.

What is IMP 7?

A satellite in a highly elliptical orbit, in space since Sep 23, 1972.

Can I see IMP 7?

No, not with the naked eye: no brightness has been published for IMP 7, and nothing here estimates one.

Latest orbital data

Position received
3:18 PM UTC
Station time (UTC)
3:18 PM UTC
Latitude / longitude
57.2° N, 175.4° E
Altitude
289,588 km
Speed
0.96 km/s (3,460 km/h)
Course
west
Light
In sunlight
Inclination
58.4°
Orbital period
17,709.6 minutes
Orbits per day
0.08
This orbit
142,738 to 294,627 km
In view from
Within 8,760 km of the point below it
Elements epoch
Oct 29, 2026, 1:00 AM, 17 days old
Source
Position from Space-Track orbital elements of Oct 29, 2026, 1:00 AM, 17 days old.

No operator publishes an ephemeris for IMP 7, so every position here comes from its orbital elements.

General

Operator
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
State
United States
Built by
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Launched
Mass
266 kg
Operating
Orbit class
Highly elliptical 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.

In orbit

Close approaches
No close approach to IMP 7 has been reported publicly in the past thirty days.

From Space-Track’s public conjunction messages; the latest report was issued Nov 14, 2026, 10:20 PM, 14 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 Oct 29, 2026, 1:00 AM, 17 days old.

{
  "OBJECT_NAME": "EXPLORER 47 (IMP-7)",
  "OBJECT_ID": "1972-073A",
  "EPOCH": "2026-10-29T01:00:15.342336",
  "MEAN_MOTION": 0.08131182,
  "ECCENTRICITY": 0.3374382,
  "INCLINATION": 58.4316,
  "RA_OF_ASC_NODE": 31.9191,
  "ARG_OF_PERICENTER": 273.8638,
  "MEAN_ANOMALY": 358.0682,
  "EPHEMERIS_TYPE": 0,
  "CLASSIFICATION_TYPE": "U",
  "NORAD_CAT_ID": 6197,
  "ELEMENT_SET_NO": 999,
  "REV_AT_EPOCH": 404,
  "BSTAR": 0,
  "MEAN_MOTION_DOT": -0.00001197,
  "MEAN_MOTION_DDOT": 0
}

Current orbit

Where IMP 7 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 Atlantic Ocean

Past trackNext orbits

In view from you

Nobody watches IMP 7 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 IMP 7, 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