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COSMOS 2523 — Live Satellite Tracking (NORAD 42986)
Track COSMOS 2523 (NORAD catalog number 42986) 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 E of 2017's 37th orbital launch (COSPAR designation 2017-037E). As of this element set it had completed roughly 48,123 revolutions of Earth.
Moving at about 7.62 km/s, COSMOS 2523 flies in low Earth orbit at an altitude of roughly 542 × 633 km, completing one revolution every 96.3 minutes — about 15.0 trips around Earth per day. The orbit is essentially circular (eccentricity 0.0066). Its 97.5° 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 259.9°. Earth's equatorial bulge precesses that plane eastward about 0.96° 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 | ~542 km × 633 km |
| Inclination | 97.50° |
| Orbital period | 96.3 min (14.96 rev/day) |
| Eccentricity | 0.00656 |
| Element set epoch | 2026-09-07 |
| COSPAR designation | 2017-037E |
| NORAD catalog number | 42986 |
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
COSMOS 2523 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 COSMOS 2523 from the ground?
Sometimes. Like most low-Earth-orbit spacecraft, COSMOS 2523 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 COSMOS 2523 in the Other Active Satellites group — usually craft from the same or adjacent launches:
- SKYSAT-C11 (NORAD 42987)
- KOREASAT 5A (NORAD 42984)
- SKYSAT-C10 (NORAD 42988)
- SKYSAT-C9 (NORAD 42989)
- SKYSAT-C8 (NORAD 42990)
- SKYSAT-C7 (NORAD 42991)
Browse the Other Active Satellites directory or the full satellite directory · What is a TLE? · WatchSat live globe