SSU 2

LIVE
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Link to this page

https://orbinauts.com/satellites/8884

  • Military
  • SSU 3
  • NORAD 8884
  • 1976-038J
  • Low Earth orbit

Current orbit

Where SSU 2 is on the world map, with the orbit it is flying
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Orbit began over the Atlantic Ocean

Orbit ends over the Atlantic Ocean

Past trackNext orbits

In view from you

Nobody watches SSU 2 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 SSU 2, 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 Atlantic Ocean LIVE

Where is SSU 2?

At 7:03:49 PM UTC SSU 2 was over the Atlantic Ocean (33.6° N, 44° W), 745 km up, moving at 7.58 km/s and in sunlight.

What is SSU 2?

A satellite in low Earth orbit, in space since Apr 30, 1976.

Can I see SSU 2?

No, not with the naked eye: no brightness has been published for SSU 2, and nothing here estimates one.

General

Operator
National Reconnaissance Office
State
United States of America
Built by
Naval Research Lab
Military
Yes: a defence organisation flies it
Launched
Mass
200 kg
Operating
No: its regular operations have ended
Orbit class
Low 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
7:03 PM UTC
Station time (UTC)
7:03 PM UTC
Latitude / longitude
33.6° N, 44° W
Altitude
745 km
Speed
7.58 km/s (27,302 km/h)
Course
south-east
Light
In sunlight
Inclination
63.4°
Orbital period
103.7 minutes
Orbits per day
13.88
This orbit
674 to 1,194 km
In shadow
None of this orbit
In view from
Within 2,020 km of the point below it
Elements epoch
Nov 7, 2026, 9:37 PM, 21 hours old
Source
Position from Space-Track orbital elements of Nov 7, 2026, 9:37 PM, 21 hours old.

No operator publishes an ephemeris for SSU 2, so every position here comes from its orbital elements.

In orbit

Close approaches
No close approach to SSU 2 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

SSU 2 shares its launch, 1976-038, with 3 other bodies the catalogue lists in orbit.

BodyWhat it is
OPS 6431Satellite
SSU 1Satellite
SSU 2Satellite

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 7, 2026, 9:37 PM, 21 hours old.

{
  "OBJECT_NAME": "SSU 3",
  "OBJECT_ID": "1976-038J",
  "EPOCH": "2026-11-07T21:37:13.048608",
  "MEAN_MOTION": 13.88085825,
  "ECCENTRICITY": 0.03559525,
  "INCLINATION": 63.3578,
  "RA_OF_ASC_NODE": 131.8172,
  "ARG_OF_PERICENTER": 185.114,
  "MEAN_ANOMALY": 174.6236,
  "EPHEMERIS_TYPE": 0,
  "CLASSIFICATION_TYPE": "U",
  "NORAD_CAT_ID": 8884,
  "ELEMENT_SET_NO": 999,
  "REV_AT_EPOCH": 38205,
  "BSTAR": 0.00011725662,
  "MEAN_MOTION_DOT": 0.00000125,
  "MEAN_MOTION_DDOT": 0
}