I’m trying to understand the process of naming satellites and putting their TLEs in the official sources.

It seems like Space-Track is the official source of TLEs. Is that correct? It seems like CelesTrak and AMSAT are secondary sources. Is that correct?

It seems like the process is this:

1. When a satellite is first launched, various people associated with it post preliminary TLEs with a temporary ID number.

2. At some point an official ID number is generated. Who does this? I’m assuming NORAD?

3. At some point, the satellite is given a name like “AO-123” versus “2024-199AY” or “OBJECT AY”. Who does this? Is that an “official” name that all TLEs should use?

4. At some point it seems like the TLE sources align with the same name. Who drives that?

For example, let’s take AO-123. AMSAT lists it as:

AO-123

1 61781U 24199AY  24347.80600981  .00010127  00000-0  42052-3 0  9997

2 61781  97.3799 212.0032 0019112 106.8236 253.5099 15.23855779 49614

Space-Track lists it as:

0 OBJECT AY

1 61781U 24199AY  24348.46265841  .00010225  00000-0  42439-3 0  9990

2 61781  97.3798 212.6494 0019118 104.7477 255.5880 15.23869705 49716

CelesTrak lists it as:

2024-199AY              

1 61781U 24199AY  24348.46265841  .00010225  00000+0  42439-3 0  9999

2 61781  97.3798 212.6494 0019118 104.7477 255.5880 15.23869705 49716

When will Space-Track and CelesTrak list it as AO-123? Who decides that?

Also, why is AMSAT’s TLEs so far behind Space-Track and CelesTrak? Notice AMSAT lists revolution 49614 versus the others that list revolution 49716 so it’s quite a bit behind.

Lastly, sometimes the TLE sources never seem to align on a name. A good example of this is AO-91. AMSAT lists it as:

AO-91

1 43017U 17073E   24347.62953177  .00010752  00000-0  59525-3 0  9997

2 43017  97.5481 217.2046 0193324  54.2789 307.6249 14.99383406382348

However, CelesTrak lists it as:

RADFXSAT (FOX-1B)       

1 43017U 17073E   24347.89647055  .00011020  00000+0  60999-3 0  9996

2 43017  97.5480 217.4635 0193277  53.3813 308.5014 14.99389431382386

Why don’t they use the same name after all these years? Who decides that?

Thanks for helping me to understand the intricacies of this process.

-David, N9KT