NOAA 1

About This Satellite

NOAA-1 launched on December 11, 1970, as the second flight unit of the NOAA/ITOS programme. Its main task was cloud imagery, with additional observations related to radiation balance and space weather. WMO records the end of its operation on August 19, 1971. It is a historical weather mission, not a source of live weather images today.

The first NOAA name did not mean the first weather satellite

NOAA's institutional history places this spacecraft after the earlier TIROS, ESSA, and initial ITOS developments. The new NOAA agency was formed in October 1970, shortly before this launch. The number one marks the naming sequence, not the beginning of all satellite meteorology.

An inactive spacecraft can still have an orbital record

End of operation is not synonymous with atmospheric reentry. A catalog can continue to track a physical object after its instruments stop working. If an orbital solution is available here, it represents the tracked object; it does not revive the 1970s payload or imply that weather observations are still being transmitted.

Mission reference: WMO OSCAR: NOAA-1 mission and instrument record. Editorial review: 2026-09-07.

Cameras, a radiometer, and a proton monitor

WMO lists Automatic Picture Transmission, the Advanced Vidicon Camera System, a Flat Plate Radiometer, a Solar Proton Monitor, and a Scanning Radiometer. That instrument mix connects cloud imagery with radiation and particle measurements. It should not be replaced with the AVHRR or VIIRS inventory of much later NOAA missions simply because they share an agency name.

Reference: WMO OSCAR: NOAA-1 payload inventory.

Where it fits in the weather-satellite family

NASA describes TIROS-N, launched in 1978, as the start of a later generation with AVHRR and atmospheric sounding equipment. NOAA-1 belongs to the earlier ITOS era. This distinction helps when searching image archives or receiver documentation: a technique described for a later NOAA satellite is not automatically applicable to NOAA-1.

Reference: NASA: ITOS and the later TIROS-N generation.

A naming milestone in 1970

NOAA's account identifies this mission as the first satellite to carry the newly formed agency's name. Read that institutional milestone alongside the spacecraft's instrument record: the organisation continued an existing operational weather-observation programme, rather than starting with no predecessors.

Reference: NOAA: the transition from ITOS to the NOAA name.

Reading this orbital snapshot

Based on TLE epoch: 2026-09-05. Estimated altitude ranges from 1,423 km at perigee to 1,472 km at apogee, a difference of 49 km. The orbital period is about 114.8 minutes. Eccentricity 0.00315 indicates a nearly circular path. In a two-body approximation, perigee speed is 1.01 times apogee speed. These are mean-element estimates, not instantaneous measurements. Distance per orbit uses an ellipse approximation.

Saved build snapshot. If a valid TLE is retrieved, this explanation and the orbit panel update together. Otherwise this dated snapshot is retained.

Ground track is not sensor coverage

An inclination of 101.33 degrees implies approximate geocentric ground-track limits of 78.7 degrees north and south. This is a retrograde orbit, moving against the direction of Earth rotation. The plotted line marks the point beneath the object. It does not represent camera coverage, radio reception, or a guaranteed visible pass.

Accuracy and missing information

The introductory record describes the build snapshot. The orbital snapshot explanation and orbit panel share any successfully retrieved TLE; check the displayed epoch. Reentered objects retain historical data only. Mission history is not rewritten by TLE updates. TLE/SGP4 positions are predictions and can change after maneuvers or updated observations. The 14-day stale-data cutoff is a display safeguard, not an accuracy guarantee. Local passes are geometric predictions, not a visibility forecast. No verified operator or mission status means unknown, not active. Do not use this catalog for collision avoidance or operational flight decisions.

Catalog sources: CelesTrak SATCAT: NORAD 4793 · GCAT: S04793 (source update 2026 Sep 4 2345:57). Supplementary metadata: SatNOGS DB, retrieved 2026-09-05T12:57:25.375Z. Page assembled 2026-09-15. GCAT phase codes describe trajectory phases, not mission health.

Learn more: TLE data · Perigee and apogee · Ground tracks · JOT (Jewawud Live Orbital Map)

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