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AQUA — Live Satellite Tracking (NORAD 27424)
Track AQUA (NORAD catalog number 27424) 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 has been on orbit since 2002, launched on the 22nd orbital launch of that year (COSPAR designation 2002-022A).
Moving at about 7.51 km/s, AQUA flies in low Earth orbit at an altitude of roughly 692 × 694 km, completing one revolution every 98.5 minutes — about 14.6 trips around Earth per day. The orbit is essentially circular (eccentricity 0.0002). Its 98.4° 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 221.2°. Earth's equatorial bulge precesses that plane eastward about 1.02° per day, matching the Sun's apparent motion — which is what holds its lighting constant.
Orbital elements
| Orbit regime | low Earth orbit (LEO) |
|---|---|
| Perigee × apogee altitude | ~692 km × 694 km |
| Inclination | 98.44° |
| Orbital period | 98.5 min (14.62 rev/day) |
| Eccentricity | 0.00017 |
| Element set epoch | 2026-09-07 |
| COSPAR designation | 2002-022A |
| NORAD catalog number | 27424 |
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
AQUA 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 AQUA from the ground?
Sometimes. Like most low-Earth-orbit spacecraft, AQUA 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 AQUA in the Other Active Satellites group — usually craft from the same or adjacent launches:
- DIRECTV 5 (TEMPO 1) (NORAD 27426)
- INTELSAT 905 (IS-905) (NORAD 27438)
- GALAXY 3C (G-3C) (NORAD 27445)
- COSMOS 2390 (NORAD 27464)
- COSMOS 2391 (NORAD 27465)
- INTELSAT 904 (IS-904) (NORAD 27380)
Browse the Other Active Satellites directory or the full satellite directory · What is a TLE? · WatchSat live globe