Science
SURCAL 159
Radar Calibration Satellite · US Air Force
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SURCAL 159, one of a series of Surveillance Calibration satellites launched by the US Air Force in the late 1960s to test and calibrate the ground-based radar network used to track objects in orbit. Effectively a known reference target for the very system that would go on to track everything else in this list.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Low Earth Orbitcan appear as a fast-moving star at dawn or dusk
- Altitude
- 556–563 mi (894–906 km)
- Inclination
- 70.0°
- One orbit
- 102.8 minutes14.0 orbits a day
- NORAD ID
- 02872
- Int’l designator
- 1967-053F
- Launched
- 1967
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 22 Sep 2026.