OrbitNight

NORAD 20401

SKYNET 4A

📡 Radar viewIn orbit
Tap to zoom and pan
Computing position…
Blue circle: where it is above the horizon now

Time

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Position

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Longitude
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Altitude
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Speed

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Kilometers per second
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Miles per second
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From your location

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Elevation
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Right ascension
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Declination
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Local sidereal time
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Sunlight

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Its orbit in 3D

Goes round Earth once every 24.2 hours, on an orbit tilted 12.5° from the equator, between 36,071 and 36,238 km up. Earth is drawn to scale.

Drag to turn · pinch to zoom · it moves live

About SKYNET 4A

SKYNET 4A is a satellite from the United Kingdom, launched on Jan 1, 1990 from Air Force Eastern Test Range.

It sits in geostationary orbit about 35,800 km above the equator near 139°E, turning with Earth so it stays over the same spot.

The map shows where it is right now; the pass list tells you when it next comes over your location.

decommissioned British military communications satellite

Operated by
Ministry of Defence
Built by
British Aerospace Space Systems
Mass
1,250 kg

Names and facts: Wikidata (CC0).

Orbit height over the past year

Over the last 18 days its lowest point went from 36,085 km to 36,081 km. Sudden rises are engine burns that lift the orbit; slow declines are drag from the thin upper atmosphere.

Lowest point (perigee)Highest point (apogee)
36,10036,15036,200

From Space-Track element sets, one point a day.