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M2 PATHFINDER — Live Satellite Tracking (NORAD 45727)
Track M2 PATHFINDER (NORAD catalog number 45727) 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 2020's 37th orbital launch (COSPAR designation 2020-037E). 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 33,772 revolutions of Earth.
Moving at about 7.59 km/s, M2 PATHFINDER flies in low Earth orbit at an altitude of roughly 552 × 566 km, completing one revolution every 95.7 minutes — about 15.0 trips around Earth per day. The orbit is essentially circular (eccentricity 0.0010). Its 97.8° 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 81.7°. Earth's equatorial bulge precesses that plane eastward about 1.01° 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 | ~552 km × 566 km |
| Inclination | 97.81° |
| Orbital period | 95.7 min (15.05 rev/day) |
| Eccentricity | 0.00102 |
| Element set epoch | 2026-09-06 |
| COSPAR designation | 2020-037E |
| NORAD catalog number | 45727 |
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
M2 PATHFINDER 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 M2 PATHFINDER from the ground?
Sometimes. Like most low-Earth-orbit spacecraft, M2 PATHFINDER 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 M2 PATHFINDER in the Other Active Satellites group — usually craft from the same or adjacent launches:
- ANDESITE (NORAD 45726)
- HAIYANG-1D (NORAD 45721)
- GAOFEN-9 03 (NORAD 45794)
- GAOFEN-9 02 (NORAD 45625)
- COSMOS 2546 (EKS 4) (NORAD 45608)
- XINGYUN-2 02 (NORAD 45603)
Browse the Other Active Satellites directory or the full satellite directory · What is a TLE? · WatchSat live globe