HomeOther Active Satellites › IRIDIUM 123

IRIDIUM 123 — Live Satellite Tracking (NORAD 42804)

Track IRIDIUM 123 (NORAD catalog number 42804) 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 2017's 39th orbital launch (COSPAR designation 2017-039B). It went up together with 9 other satellites from that launch still in the active catalog. As of this element set it had completed roughly 48,171 revolutions of Earth.

Moving at about 7.47 km/s, IRIDIUM 123 flies in low Earth orbit at an altitude of roughly 783 × 786 km, completing one revolution every 100.4 minutes — about 14.3 trips around Earth per day. The orbit is essentially circular (eccentricity 0.0002). Inclined 86.4° — nearly pole-to-pole — its ground track sweeps essentially every latitude. Its orbital plane crosses the equator northbound at right ascension 319.4°. Earth's equatorial bulge drifts that plane westward about 0.42° per day.

Orbital elements

Orbit regimelow Earth orbit (LEO)
Perigee × apogee altitude~783 km × 786 km
Inclination86.40°
Orbital period100.4 min (14.34 rev/day)
Eccentricity0.00023
Element set epoch2026-09-07
COSPAR designation2017-039B
NORAD catalog number42804

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

IRIDIUM 123 is one of 80 Iridium NEXT satellites in the WatchSat catalog. The constellation flies near-polar orbits around 780 km, inclined about 86°, providing global voice and data coverage. Browse all other active satellites live in 3D.

Can you see IRIDIUM 123 from the ground?

Sometimes. Like most low-Earth-orbit spacecraft, IRIDIUM 123 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 IRIDIUM 123 in the Other Active Satellites group — usually craft from the same or adjacent launches:

Browse the Other Active Satellites directory or the full satellite directory · What is a TLE? · WatchSat live globe