NOAA 2 (ITOS-D)
Country: United States · Also known as: ITOS-D
Live Position
Ground Track · Last 90 Minutes
Upcoming Passes · Over Your Location
About This Satellite
NOAA-2 was one of the NOAA-2 through NOAA-5 spacecraft carrying the eight-channel Vertical Temperature Profile Radiometer, or VTPR. This sounder supplied observations from which atmospheric temperature profiles could be derived. Its role went beyond locating clouds: it helped describe the thermal structure of the atmosphere.
A sounding footprint was much larger than a city block
VTPR scanned across the flight direction in twenty-three discrete steps. NOAA documents a footprint of about 55 by 57 km directly below the satellite, widening to 67 by 91 km at the scan edge. These are instrument sampling dimensions, not the precision of the orbital ground track or a promise of street-level weather information.
Eight channels are not eight directly measured atmospheric layers
The archived files contain channel brightness temperatures in kelvin alongside satellite identifiers, coordinates, and timing. A brightness temperature is a radiometric quantity used in deriving a sounding, not a thermometer reading assigned automatically to one altitude. The archive spans several spacecraft; its November 1972 to February 1979 observing interval is not NOAA-2's individual lifetime.
Mission reference: NOAA NCEI: VTPR instrument, scan geometry and archived variables. Editorial review: .
ITOS-D introduced new measurements and shared its launch
NASA's 1972 chronology records the October 15 NOAA-2 mission with a Very High Resolution Radiometer and VTPR, alongside scanning radiometers and a solar proton monitor. It also records the separate deployment of the amateur-radio satellite OSCAR 6 on the same launch. NOAA-2's meteorological observations and OSCAR 6's communications experiment belong to different spacecraft, despite their shared ride. The date follows NASA's chronology and the catalog launch record, rather than WMO's conflicting October 13 entry.
Reference: NASA: Astronautics and Aeronautics 1972, October 15 NOAA-2 and OSCAR 6 launch account.
Historical direct reception is not a service offered today
WMO describes full-resolution HRPT reception and reduced-resolution modified APT imagery for NOAA-2. Those were options for receiving its historical broadcasts. The same mission record marks the spacecraft inactive, with an operational endpoint of January 30, 1975. That endpoint is distinct from reentry and from the end of any combined multi-satellite archive. A modern TLE prediction does not restore those broadcasts or establish that a receiver can obtain new weather pictures.
Reference: WMO OSCAR: NOAA-2 historical downlink modes and inactive status.
Reading this orbital snapshot
Based on TLE epoch: 2026-09-05. Estimated altitude ranges from 1,448 km at perigee to 1,454 km at apogee, a difference of 7 km. The orbital period is about 114.9 minutes. Eccentricity 0.00042 indicates a nearly circular path. In a two-body approximation, perigee speed is 1.00 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 102.01 degrees implies approximate geocentric ground-track limits of 78.0 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 6235 · GCAT: S06235 (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)