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NORAD 39256

AEHF 3 (USA 246)

📡 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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Speed

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From your location

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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 23.9 hours, on an orbit tilted 5.6° from the equator, between 35,362 and 36,223 km up. Earth is drawn to scale.

Drag to turn · pinch to zoom · it moves live

About AEHF 3 (USA 246)

AEHF 3 (USA 246) is a satellite from the United States, launched on Sep 18, 2013 from Air Force Eastern Test Range.

It sits in geostationary orbit about 35,800 km above the equator near 124°W, 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.

USA-246 · United States military communications satellite

Operated by
United States Space Force
Built by
Lockheed Martin Space, Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems
Mass
6,168 kg

Wikipedia article ↗ · Names and facts: Wikidata (CC0).

Orbit height over the past year

Over the last 23 days its lowest point went from 35,393 km to 35,389 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)
35,40035,60035,80036,00036,200

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