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AURA — Live Satellite Tracking (NORAD 28376)
Track AURA (NORAD catalog number 28376) 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 2004, launched on the 26th orbital launch of that year (COSPAR designation 2004-026A).
Moving at about 7.51 km/s, AURA flies in low Earth orbit at an altitude of roughly 695 × 697 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 98.3° 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 207.4°. Earth's equatorial bulge precesses that plane eastward about 1.01° 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 | ~695 km × 697 km |
| Inclination | 98.35° |
| Orbital period | 98.5 min (14.61 rev/day) |
| Eccentricity | 0.00016 |
| Element set epoch | 2026-09-07 |
| COSPAR designation | 2004-026A |
| NORAD catalog number | 28376 |
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
AURA 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 AURA from the ground?
Sometimes. Like most low-Earth-orbit spacecraft, AURA 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 AURA in the Other Active Satellites group — usually craft from the same or adjacent launches:
- ANIK F2 (NORAD 28378)
- APRIZESAT 1 (NORAD 28372)
- COSMOS 2407 (NORAD 28380)
- SAUDISAT 2 (NORAD 28371)
- SAUDICOMSAT 2 (NORAD 28370)
- SAUDICOMSAT 1 (NORAD 28369)
Browse the Other Active Satellites directory or the full satellite directory · What is a TLE? · WatchSat live globe