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BEIDOU-3 M1 — Live Satellite Tracking (NORAD 43001)
Track BEIDOU-3 M1 (NORAD catalog number 43001) 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 2017, launched on the 69th orbital launch of that year (COSPAR designation 2017-069A). It went up together with 1 other satellite from that launch still in the active catalog. As of this element set it had completed roughly 6,009 revolutions of Earth.
Moving at about 3.78 km/s, BEIDOU-3 M1 operates in medium Earth orbit at roughly 21,515–21,556 km altitude, taking about 12.9 hours per revolution (1.86 orbits a day). The orbit is essentially circular (eccentricity 0.0007). Inclined 56.8° to the equator, it overflies every latitude up to about 57° north and south. Its orbital plane crosses the equator northbound at right ascension 60.5°.
Orbital elements
| Orbit regime | medium Earth orbit (MEO) |
|---|---|
| Perigee × apogee altitude | ~21,515 km × 21,556 km |
| Inclination | 56.77° |
| Orbital period | 773.2 min (1.86 rev/day) |
| Eccentricity | 0.00073 |
| Element set epoch | 2026-09-05 |
| COSPAR designation | 2017-069A |
| NORAD catalog number | 43001 |
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 Navigation group
BEIDOU-3 M1 is part of China's BeiDou fleet — one of 173 global-navigation satellites in the WatchSat catalog across GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou. GNSS spacecraft broadcast precise time signals from orbits around 20,000 km up; a phone fixes its position by comparing several of them at once. See the whole navigation group live in 3D.
Can you see BEIDOU-3 M1 from the ground?
Not with the naked eye. At its altitude BEIDOU-3 M1 is far beyond unaided visibility — following satellites this high takes a telescope and good timing. You can still track it precisely in the live 3D view above, or check pass predictions for your location.
Related satellites
Nearest catalog neighbors of BEIDOU-3 M1 in the Navigation group — usually craft from the same or adjacent launches:
- BEIDOU-3 M2 (NORAD 43002)
- GSAT0215 (GALILEO 19) (NORAD 43055)
- GSAT0216 (GALILEO 20) (NORAD 43056)
- GSAT0217 (GALILEO 21) (NORAD 43057)
- GSAT0218 (GALILEO 22) (NORAD 43058)
- COSMOS 2522 [GLONASS-M] (NORAD 42939)
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