Satellite · NORAD 38251 · COSPAR 2012-018B
BEIDOU-2 M4
- Operator China Satellite Navigation Office
- Constellation BeiDou
- Country China
Altitude now
21,520.0km
SGP4 propagation
Velocity
3.78km/s
Inclination
55.58°
Period
12.9 h
773.2 min
Perigee
21,489km
Apogee
21,568km
orbit agingOrbit updated 9 h ago · element epoch 11 Sept 2026 00:49 UTC (20.1 h old)· Metadata updated 9 h ago
Live position
Ground track & current position
Propagated client-side every 5 s from the latest element set (SGP4). Accuracy degrades with element age.
Loading ground track…
- Latitude
- 16.764° S
- Longitude
- 171.276° W
- Altitude
- 21520.0 km
- Velocity
- 3.781 km/s
- past 45 min
- next 90 min
- first fix from server render · element epoch 11 Sept 2026 00:49 UTC
Mission
Mission & classification
Ownership
Operator & country
- SATCAT owner code
- PRC · People's Republic of China
- Country
- China CN
Launch
Launch
- Launch date
- 29 Apr 2012
- COSPAR launch id
- 2012-018
- Launch site
- Xichang Satellite Launch Center
Objects from the same launch · 3
- CZ-3B DEB38252DebrisDecayed
- BEIDOU-2 M338250PayloadActive
- CZ-3B R/B38253Rocket bodyDecayed
Change log
History
| Field | Change | Source | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner Code | ∅ → PRC | Celestrak Satcat | 11 Sept 2026 18:53 UTC |
| Orbit Class | ∅ → MEO | Celestrak | 11 Sept 2026 18:53 UTC |
Regulatory
UN registration
Transparency
Sources & provenance
CelesTrakcommunity
Orbital data courtesy of CelesTrak (Dr. T.S. Kelso).
last sync 9 h ago
CelesTrak SATCATcommunity
Satellite catalog data courtesy of CelesTrak.
last sync 9 h ago
Field provenance
| Field | Source | Observed | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canonical Name | CelesTrak SATCAT | 11 Sept 2026 18:53 UTC | 100% |
| Decay Date | CelesTrak SATCAT | 11 Sept 2026 18:53 UTC | 100% |
| Launch Date | CelesTrak SATCAT | 11 Sept 2026 18:53 UTC | 100% |
| Object Type | CelesTrak SATCAT | 11 Sept 2026 18:53 UTC | 100% |
| Orbital Elements | CelesTrak | 11 Sept 2026 18:53 UTC | 100% |
| Owner Code | CelesTrak SATCAT | 11 Sept 2026 18:53 UTC | 100% |
| Status | CelesTrak SATCAT | 11 Sept 2026 18:53 UTC | 100% |
Timeline
Events
No events detected for this object yet. Launches, decays and orbit changes are generated by the derived-analytics connector.
Reference
Identifiers
- NORAD catalogue number
- 38251
- COSPAR / international designator
- 2012-018B
- SatelliteIndex id
- sat_01M28X2SWWDCTX9MYDGY0F69R5
- Canonical slug
- beidou-2-m4-38251
Orbit class, mission type and constellation membership are derived by SatelliteIndex (Navigation) — see the methodology. Positions are propagated estimates, not tracking measurements; never use them for conjunction assessment.