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LARES — Live Satellite Tracking (NORAD 38077)
Track LARES (NORAD catalog number 38077) 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 2012, launched on the 6th orbital launch of that year (COSPAR designation 2012-006A). As of this element set it had completed roughly 66,737 revolutions of Earth.
Moving at about 7.15 km/s, LARES flies in low Earth orbit at an altitude of roughly 1,443 × 1,459 km, completing one revolution every 114.7 minutes — about 12.5 trips around Earth per day. The orbit is essentially circular (eccentricity 0.0011). Inclined 69.5° to the equator, it overflies every latitude up to about 69° north and south. Its orbital plane crosses the equator northbound at right ascension 152.0°. Earth's equatorial bulge drifts that plane westward about 1.71° per day.
Orbital elements
| Orbit regime | low Earth orbit (LEO) |
|---|---|
| Perigee × apogee altitude | ~1,443 km × 1,459 km |
| Inclination | 69.49° |
| Orbital period | 114.7 min (12.55 rev/day) |
| Eccentricity | 0.00106 |
| Element set epoch | 2026-09-07 |
| COSPAR designation | 2012-006A |
| NORAD catalog number | 38077 |
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
LARES 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 LARES from the ground?
Sometimes. Like most low-Earth-orbit spacecraft, LARES 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 LARES in the Other Active Satellites group — usually craft from the same or adjacent launches:
- WGS F4 (USA 233) (NORAD 38070)
- SES-4 (NORAD 38087)
- MUOS-1 (NORAD 38093)
- INTELSAT 22 (IS-22) (NORAD 38098)
- APSTAR-7 (NORAD 38107)
- GLOBALSTAR M086 (NORAD 38045)
Browse the Other Active Satellites directory or the full satellite directory · What is a TLE? · WatchSat live globe