The Satellite Catalog Number (also known as NORAD Catalog Number, NASA catalog number, USSPACECOM object number or simply Catalog number and similar variants) is a sequential 5-digit number assigned by USSPACECOM to all Earth orbiting satellite

Satellite

In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....

s in order of identification. Before USSPACECOM, the catalog was maintained by NORAD. The first catalogued object, catalog number 00001, is the Sputnik 1

Sputnik 1

Sputnik 1 ) was the first artificial satellite to be put into Earth's orbit. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957. The unanticipated announcement of Sputnik 1s success precipitated the Sputnik crisis in the United States and ignited the Space...

 launch vehicle

Launch vehicle

In spaceflight, a launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket used to carry a payload from the Earth's surface into outer space. A launch system includes the launch vehicle, the launch pad and other infrastructure....

.

A search of the NSSDC Master Catalog at the end of October 2010 listed 6,578 satellites launched into orbit since 1957, the latest being Chang'e 2

Chang'e 2

Chang'e 2 is a Chinese unmanned lunar probe that was launched on 1 October 2010. It was a follow-up to the Chang'e 1 lunar probe, which was launched in 2007. Chang'e 2 was part of the first phase of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, and conducted research from a 100-kilometer-high lunar orbit...

, on 1 October 2010.

External links

• NSSDC Master Catalog
• NSSDC Master Catalog Spacecraft query
• NSSDC SPACEWARN Bulletin
• Space-Track
• US space objects registry
• UK space objects registry
• UN space objects registry
• Mirror of UN space objects registry with commentary by Jonathan McDowell of Jonathan's Space Report
  Jonathan's Space Report
  Jonathan's Space Report is a newsletter about the space age. It is written by Jonathan McDowell, a Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics astrophysicist...
  
  
• CelesTrak
• CelesTrak SATCAT search
• N2YO
• Heavens-Above
• Gunter's Space Page
• JPL Orbital Element Database