CLASSIFIED
MANDRAKE 2 BAKER
US Military Optical Communications Technology Demonstrator · US Space Force / DARPA
Right now
LiveIt moves every second. See exactly where it is — worked out from its orbit, on your own device — on the live 3D globe.
- Over
- —
- Altitude
- —
- Speed
- —
Mandrake 2 Baker, the second half of a DARPA/Space Force experimental satellite pair testing optical inter-satellite laser communication links — a rehearsal for the kind of space-based laser data relay mesh the Pentagon now considers essential to modern military satellite architecture.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Low Earth Orbitcan appear as a fast-moving star at dawn or dusk
- Altitude
- 234–236 mi (377–381 km)
- Inclination
- 97.7°
- One orbit
- 92.0 minutes15.7 orbits a day
- NORAD ID
- 48908
- Int’l designator
- 2021-059AF
- Launched
- 2021
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 22 Sep 2026.
More classified
- MOHAMMED VI-AMoroccan Earth Observation Satellite (Assessed Military Application)
- MOHAMMED VI-BMoroccan Earth Observation Satellite (Assessed Military Application)
- MONOLITHUS Military Deployable Structure Technology Demonstrator
- O/OREOS (USA 219)Astrobiology CubeSat Laboratory
- OPS 5712 (P/L 160)Declassified Cold War Naval SIGINT Satellite
- ORS-5 SENSORSATUS Military Space Surveillance Satellite