DSCS II F-3

LIVE
See on the map

Link to this page

https://orbinauts.com/satellites/6973

  • Communications satellite
  • Military
  • OPS 9433 (DSCS 2-3)
  • NORAD 6973
  • 1973-100A
  • Medium Earth orbit

Current orbit

Where DSCS II F-3 is on the world map, with the orbit it is flying
View on live map

Orbit began over the Pacific Ocean

Orbit ends over the Pacific Ocean

Past trackNext orbits

In view from you

Nobody watches DSCS II F-3 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 DSCS II F-3, 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 for the naked eye. What reaches you from it reaches a dish or an antenna, not an eye.

Timeline

  1. Launch

    Launched, on the day GCAT records. Source

Summary

Over the Pacific Ocean LIVE

Where is DSCS II F-3?

At 5:38:56 PM UTC DSCS II F-3 was over the Pacific Ocean (4.3° S, 152.4° W), 36,409 km up, moving at 3.06 km/s and in sunlight.

What is DSCS II F-3?

A communications satellite in medium Earth orbit, in space since Dec 13, 1973.

Can I see DSCS II F-3?

No, not with the naked eye: no brightness has been published for DSCS II F-3, and nothing here estimates one; 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
585 kg
Operating
No: its regular operations have ended
Orbit class
Medium Earth orbit

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
5:38 PM UTC
Station time (UTC)
5:38 PM UTC
Latitude / longitude
4.3° S, 152.4° W
Altitude
36,409 km
Speed
3.06 km/s (11,005 km/h)
Course
south-west
Light
In sunlight
Inclination
4.7°
Orbital period
1,474.6 minutes
Orbits per day
0.98
This orbit
36,409 to 36,665 km
In view from
Within 7,960 km of the point below it
Elements epoch
Nov 8, 2026, 6:37 AM, 11 hours old
Source
Position from Space-Track orbital elements of Nov 8, 2026, 6:37 AM, 11 hours old.

No operator publishes an ephemeris for DSCS II F-3, so every position here comes from its orbital elements.

In orbit

Close approaches
No close approach to DSCS II F-3 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-3 shares its launch, 1973-100, with 2 other bodies the catalogue lists in orbit.

BodyWhat it is
OPS 9434 (DSCS 2-4)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-336,409 to 36,665 km1,475 minutes585 kg1973
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, 6:37 AM, 11 hours old.

{
  "OBJECT_NAME": "OPS 9433 (DSCS 2-3)",
  "OBJECT_ID": "1973-100A",
  "EPOCH": "2026-11-08T06:37:15.512736",
  "MEAN_MOTION": 0.97655866,
  "ECCENTRICITY": 0.00298624,
  "INCLINATION": 4.7135,
  "RA_OF_ASC_NODE": 273.915,
  "ARG_OF_PERICENTER": 246.3172,
  "MEAN_ANOMALY": 198.5885,
  "EPHEMERIS_TYPE": 0,
  "CLASSIFICATION_TYPE": "U",
  "NORAD_CAT_ID": 6973,
  "ELEMENT_SET_NO": 999,
  "REV_AT_EPOCH": 12124,
  "BSTAR": 0,
  "MEAN_MOTION_DOT": -7.6e-7,
  "MEAN_MOTION_DDOT": 0
}