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IRIDIUM 143 — Live Satellite Tracking (NORAD 43258)
Track IRIDIUM 143 (NORAD catalog number 43258) 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 K of 2018's 30th orbital launch (COSPAR designation 2018-030K). 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 44,181 revolutions of Earth.
Moving at about 7.47 km/s, IRIDIUM 143 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 256.4°. Earth's equatorial bulge drifts that plane westward about 0.42° per day.
Orbital elements
| Orbit regime | low Earth orbit (LEO) |
|---|---|
| Perigee × apogee altitude | ~783 km × 786 km |
| Inclination | 86.39° |
| Orbital period | 100.4 min (14.34 rev/day) |
| Eccentricity | 0.00022 |
| Element set epoch | 2026-09-06 |
| COSPAR designation | 2018-030K |
| NORAD catalog number | 43258 |
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 143 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 143 from the ground?
Sometimes. Like most low-Earth-orbit spacecraft, IRIDIUM 143 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 143 in the Other Active Satellites group — usually craft from the same or adjacent launches:
- IRIDIUM 150 (NORAD 43257)
- GAOFEN-1 02 (NORAD 43259)
- IRIDIUM 142 (NORAD 43256)
- GAOFEN-1 03 (NORAD 43260)
- IRIDIUM 148 (NORAD 43255)
- IRIDIUM 146 (NORAD 43254)
Browse the Other Active Satellites directory or the full satellite directory · What is a TLE? · WatchSat live globe