Home › Navigation › BEIDOU-3 M15
BEIDOU-3 M15 — Live Satellite Tracking (NORAD 43648)
Track BEIDOU-3 M15 (NORAD catalog number 43648) 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 2018's 78th orbital launch (COSPAR designation 2018-078B). 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 5,367 revolutions of Earth.
Moving at about 3.78 km/s, BEIDOU-3 M15 operates in medium Earth orbit at roughly 21,528–21,543 km altitude, taking about 12.9 hours per revolution (1.86 orbits a day). The orbit is essentially circular (eccentricity 0.0003). Inclined 54.0° to the equator, it overflies every latitude up to about 54° north and south. Its orbital plane crosses the equator northbound at right ascension 297.2°.
Orbital elements
| Orbit regime | medium Earth orbit (MEO) |
|---|---|
| Perigee × apogee altitude | ~21,528 km × 21,543 km |
| Inclination | 54.01° |
| Orbital period | 773.2 min (1.86 rev/day) |
| Eccentricity | 0.00027 |
| Element set epoch | 2026-09-05 |
| COSPAR designation | 2018-078B |
| NORAD catalog number | 43648 |
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 M15 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 M15 from the ground?
Not with the naked eye. At its altitude BEIDOU-3 M15 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 M15 in the Navigation group — usually craft from the same or adjacent launches:
- BEIDOU-3 M16 (NORAD 43647)
- BEIDOU-3 M14 (NORAD 43623)
- BEIDOU-3 M13 (NORAD 43622)
- BEIDOU-3 G1 (NORAD 43683)
- COSMOS 2529 [GLONASS-M] (NORAD 43687)
- BEIDOU-3 M11 (NORAD 43603)
Browse the Navigation directory or the full satellite directory · What is a TLE? · WatchSat live globe