The Satellite Catalog Number (SATCAT, also known as NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense) Catalog Number, NORAD ID, USSPACECOM object number or simply catalog number, among similar variants) is a sequential nine-digit number assigned by the
United States Space Command (USSPACECOM) in the order of launch or discovery to all artificial objects in the orbits of Earth and those that left Earth's orbit. The first catalogued object, catalog number 1, is the
Sputnik 1 launch vehicle, with the
Sputnik 1 satellite having been assigned catalog number 2.
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Objects that fail to orbit or orbit for a short time are not catalogued. The minimum object size in the catalog is in diameter. , the catalog listed 54,200 objects, including 14,102 satellites that had been launched into orbit since 1957 of which 7,043 were still active. 24,146 of the objects were well tracked while 1,850 were lost. In addition USSPACECOM was also tracking 20,900 analyst objects. Analyst objects are variably tracked and in constant flux, so their catalog and element set data are not published.
ESA
, owners =
, headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France
, coordinates =
, spaceport = Guiana Space Centre
, seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png
, seal_size = 130px
, image = Views in the Main Control Room (1 ...
estimated there were about 36,500 pieces of orbiting debris that are large enough for USSPACECOM to track.
Permanently catalogued objects are assigned a number from 1 to 69,999 or above 99,999. Space-Track is expected to start publishing objects greater than 99,999 in 2020 starting with debris discovered by
Space Fence.
Space Command shares the catalog vi
space-track.org which is maintained by the
18th Space Defense Squadron (18 SDS).
History
Initially, the catalog was maintained by
NORAD
North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection ...
. From 1985 onwards, USSPACECOM was tasked to detect, track, identify, and maintain a catalog of all human-made objects in Earth orbit. In 2002, USSPACECOM was disestablished and merged with the
United States Strategic Command
United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands in the United States Department of Defense. Headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, USSTRATCOM is responsible for strategic nuclear deter ...
(USSTRATCOM). However, USSPACECOM was reestablished in 2019.
Before 2020, the catalog number was limited to five digits due to the
TLE format limitation. In 2020, Space-Track started to provide data in
CCSDS OMM (Orbit Mean-Elements Message) format, which increased the maximum catalog number to 999,999,999.
See also
*
International Designator
The International Designator, also known as COSPAR ID, is an international identifier assigned to artificial objects in space. It consists of the launch year, a three-digit incrementing launch number of that year and up to a three-letter code repr ...
, also known as a COSPAR ID
*
Space debris
*
Two-line element set (TLE)
*
United States Space Surveillance Network
The United States Space Surveillance Network (SSN) detects, tracks, catalogs and identifies artificial objects Geocentric orbit, orbiting Earth, e.g. active/inactive satellites, spent rocket bodies, or Space debris, fragmentation debris. The syste ...
References
{{reflist
External links
* The catalog
Space-Track.orgCelesTrak Satellite Catalog(a partial copy of Space-Track.org catalog)
Identifiers
Satellites
United States Strategic Command