alt.hn

7/16/2026 at 1:43:16 PM

Celestrak adds catalog digit, fixes Y2K bug

https://www.celestrak.org/satcat/

by 1970-01-01

7/21/2026 at 10:53:49 PM

Next they should fix their SSL certificate

by VoidWhisperer

7/21/2026 at 11:20:39 PM

Basically the satellite-tracking version of IPv4 exhaustion — five-digit NORAD catalog IDs cap at 99999, and mega-constellations are burning through the remaining space fast.

by OymInIRole

7/21/2026 at 11:55:53 PM

I think the number actually runs out at 69999:

https://celestrak.org/NORAD/documentation/gp-data-formats.ph...

In the linked bluesky thread, they have been estimating when they will need 6 digit numbers, and seems like it was a few days earlier than their previous prediction.

https://bsky.app/profile/tskelso.bsky.social/post/3mlg2dpuqd...

by omoikane

7/22/2026 at 12:42:30 AM

Technically, this is year (2020), because that’s when they added CSV export, given the article title. Looks like they crossed the threshold a week ago?

by altairprime