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JAS-2 (FO-29) — Live Satellite Tracking (NORAD 24278)
Track JAS-2 (FO-29) (NORAD catalog number 24278) live on the WatchSat interactive 3D globe above. Its position is propagated in real time from the latest CelesTrak two-line element set using the SGP4/SDP4 orbital model — the same math professional trackers run. It is object B of 1996's 46th orbital launch (COSPAR designation 1996-046B).
Its speed swings from 7.07 km/s at apogee to 7.58 km/s at perigee. JAS-2 (FO-29) flies in low Earth orbit at an altitude of roughly 808 × 1,327 km, completing one revolution every 106.4 minutes — about 13.5 trips around Earth per day. The orbit is mildly elliptical (eccentricity 0.0349), so its altitude varies between 808 km and 1,327 km over each revolution. Its 98.5° retrograde, near-polar inclination is characteristic of a Sun-synchronous orbit — the type Earth-imaging and weather satellites use to revisit each spot at the same local solar time. Its orbital plane crosses the equator northbound at right ascension 87.2°. Earth's equatorial bulge drifts that plane eastward about 0.86° per day.
Orbital elements
| Orbit regime | low Earth orbit (LEO) |
|---|---|
| Perigee × apogee altitude | ~808 km × 1,327 km |
| Inclination | 98.52° |
| Orbital period | 106.4 min (13.53 rev/day) |
| Eccentricity | 0.03489 |
| Element set epoch | 2026-09-06 |
| COSPAR designation | 1996-046B |
| NORAD catalog number | 24278 |
This page's orbital elements come from the CelesTrak catalog of 2026-09-08. The live 3D view above fetches its own current CelesTrak data when the page opens, through an edge cache that refreshes roughly every 30 minutes.
About the Other Active Satellites group
JAS-2 (FO-29) is one of 4,471 active satellites in WatchSat's general catalog — the broad population of Earth-observation, communications, science, amateur-radio and technology spacecraft outside the giant broadband constellations. Browse all other active satellites live in 3D.
Can you see JAS-2 (FO-29) from the ground?
Sometimes. Like most low-Earth-orbit spacecraft, JAS-2 (FO-29) is visible only around dawn and dusk, when your sky is dark but the satellite is still sunlit — and whether you can spot it depends on its size and reflectivity. See pass predictions for your location for when it is above your horizon and sunlit.
Related satellites
Nearest catalog neighbors of JAS-2 (FO-29) in the Other Active Satellites group — usually craft from the same or adjacent launches:
- INMARSAT 3-F2 (NORAD 24307)
- USA 119 (NORAD 23893)
- INMARSAT 3-F3 (NORAD 24674)
- INMARSAT 3-F1 (NORAD 23839)
- POLAR (NORAD 23802)
- USA 115 (MILSTAR-1 2) (NORAD 23712)
Browse the Other Active Satellites directory or the full satellite directory · What is a TLE? · WatchSat live globe