SURCAL 159

MilitaryLEOUnited States

SURCAL 159 is a military satellite, as listed in Jonathan McDowell's GCAT catalogue, with ownership listed as United States in CelesTrak's catalogue, currently in low Earth orbit, around 896 km altitude. It completes one orbit of Earth roughly every 103 minutes at an inclination of 70.0°. It was launched in 1967. Track its live position and see when it passes over your location on azmth.

Orbital data

NORAD ID: 2872
COSPAR ID: 1967-053F
Type: Military
Orbit: LEO
Perigee (lowest): 896 km
Apogee (highest): 909 km
Inclination: 69.97°
Orbital period: 103 min
Launch year: 1967
Owner (CelesTrak): United States

Orbital data updated: 2026-10-18 · from CelesTrak, refreshed every 2 hours.

Who operates it

United StatesLIVEMission ended May 1967

Calibration target

GCAT lists it as Calsphere III.

Independent assessment

GCAT classes it as a military satellite for calibration and records its mission as ended in May 1967 (17 Oct 2026).

Data: GCAT · CC BY 4.0 Class, mission and status adapted from GCAT by Jonathan McDowell, CC BY 4.0, data update 17 Oct 2026.

Military satellites, counted and explained →

About LEO orbit

Low Earth Orbit. Up to 2,000 km altitude. Where most satellites live including the ISS (~420 km), Starlink (~550 km), and Earth observation. Orbital period roughly 90 minutes.