UFO Traffic Control

Here is a neat application that can be used to track the location of quite a few satellites and other objects in orbit, such as the Hubble Telescope, and Space Station.

I came across it when I saw someone mention that this app also tracks XM3, XM Satellite Radio's latest satellite.

XM had two satellites, named Rock and Roll, one to cover the western US, the other the eastern US. However, the Boeing satellites had a quality problem, and the third one was launched to help address the problem. (XM will have to get another spare, then. This XM3 was intended to be the spare for the first two.)

The Rock and Roll satellites are being moved together in orbit so their combined power can adequately serve one side of the US, and the new XM-3 will serve the other side. XM-3 is currently going through testing.

XM-3 just launched a few weeks ago. There were some glitches in getting XM-3 launched on the first attempt. (See Feb 16 through Feb 23)

Also, XM had some difficulties with their insurance claims over the defective satellites, but eventually reached a settlement.