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NAVSTAR 79 (USA 304) — Live Satellite Tracking (NORAD 45854)
Track NAVSTAR 79 (USA 304) (NORAD catalog number 45854) 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 2020, launched on the 41st orbital launch of that year (COSPAR designation 2020-041A). As of this element set it had completed roughly 4,568 revolutions of Earth.
Moving at about 3.90 km/s, NAVSTAR 79 (USA 304) operates in medium Earth orbit at roughly 20,010–20,370 km altitude, taking about 12.0 hours per revolution (2.01 orbits a day). The orbit is essentially circular (eccentricity 0.0068). Inclined 56.7° to the equator, it overflies every latitude up to about 57° north and south. Its orbital plane crosses the equator northbound at right ascension 25.8°.
Orbital elements
| Orbit regime | medium Earth orbit (MEO) |
|---|---|
| Perigee × apogee altitude | ~20,010 km × 20,370 km |
| Inclination | 56.72° |
| Orbital period | 718.0 min (2.01 rev/day) |
| Eccentricity | 0.00679 |
| Element set epoch | 2026-09-07 |
| COSPAR designation | 2020-041A |
| NORAD catalog number | 45854 |
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
NAVSTAR 79 (USA 304) is part of the US GPS (NAVSTAR) 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 NAVSTAR 79 (USA 304) from the ground?
Not with the naked eye. At its altitude NAVSTAR 79 (USA 304) 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 NAVSTAR 79 (USA 304) in the Navigation group — usually craft from the same or adjacent launches:
- BEIDOU-3 G3 (NORAD 45807)
- COSMOS 2545 [GLONASS-M] (NORAD 45358)
- BEIDOU-3 G2 (NORAD 45344)
- GSAT-30 (NORAD 45026)
- COSMOS 2547 [GLONASS-K] (NORAD 46805)
- NAVSTAR 80 (USA 309) (NORAD 46826)
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