Skip to main content
For the complete documentation index, see llms.txt.
The spacecraft cheatsheet separates Own computed TLEs, fitted from your latest stored state vector, from Public catalogue data. Public orbital elements may be usable for propagation even when there are no TLE lines to copy.

​
Accessing TLEs

  1. Open the cheatsheet from the application header in Operations.
  2. Select your spacecraft.
  3. Open Own computed to view a fitted TLE, or Public to view available provider TLE text.
  4. Use the copy button in that tab to copy the displayed two lines.
The source marked as in use identifies the orbit-source category currently driving products. It does not mean both tabs contain the same orbit.

​
How It Works

The fitted TLE’s epoch is its output time, which can differ from the source state vector’s epoch. The cheatsheet requests the current time; selecting an older state vector in its details does not select a different TLE epoch.
If Own computed has no TLE, import a state vector or run orbit determination to provide one. Public GP elements without text remain usable for supported public-orbit workflows; their presence alone does not provide an own-computed TLE.

​
Export through the Operations API

Use Generate a fitted TLE in the State Vectors API reference:
This operation is available to customers with an authorized Operations API key. It requires the existing organization access and read:ephemeris permission; there is no separate internal-email or feature-rollout requirement.

​
Authentication and inputs

Use an Operations API key with access to the spacecraft’s organization and the read:ephemeris permission. Send it as Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY. Set VALAR_API_KEY to your key and SPACECRAFT_ID to the canonical ID, then run:
--data-urlencode also preserves the + in a positive timezone offset, such as 2026-09-22T14:00:00+02:00.

​
Result and prerequisites

A successful response is 200, Content-Type: text/plain: exactly two TLE lines separated by a newline, with no name line or JSON wrapper. The response is marked Cache-Control: no-store. Generation is synchronous and does not save a new resource or start a background job. The operation uses the existing Own computed generator: it selects the latest eligible stored state by epoch, propagates it to your requested epoch with the existing accurate force model and applicable maneuvers, then fits a single-state TLE. The request does not select a historical source state, accept raw state-vector input, or retrieve provider TLEs. It does not fall back to public catalogue data if an eligible stored state is missing. The spacecraft needs an eligible stored state and the mass, drag, radiation-pressure and geometry configuration required by its force model. The catalogue-number limits apply. When no NORAD ID is assigned, the existing generator uses the 99999 placeholder; it is not an assigned catalogue identity. An assigned ID above the supported limit is rejected, never replaced with that placeholder or truncated. The fitted TLE carries the requested output epoch, not necessarily the source state’s epoch. This export makes no receiver-compatibility or orbit-accuracy guarantee.

​
Failure responses

Request, generation and API-key rejection failures use structured application/json errors rather than TLE text. Authentication can reject missing credentials or a malformed bearer token before API-key handling with an empty 401 body and a WWW-Authenticate: Bearer header. Always inspect the HTTP status before parsing either an error or TLE text. Success is text/plain only. If you set an Accept header, allow text/plain (for example, text/plain, application/json as above). An unsupported or malformed Accept header receives a structured JSON 406, including when failure occurs before generation.

​
TLE Format

The generated TLE follows the standard NORAD two-line format:
For details on the TLE format and field definitions, see the TLE Format documentation.

​
Six-digit catalog numbers

VALAR continues fitting and generating TLEs from state vectors. Public catalogue orbits can be stored as GP mean elements without TLE text; that does not remove TLE generation.
  • Catalog numbers through 99999 use the ordinary numeric TLE format.
  • 100000–339999 use Alpha-5 in the exported TLE’s five-character satellite-number field. Confirm your ground-station software supports Alpha-5 before using these files for antenna pointing.
  • 340000–999999 cannot be represented in TLE/Alpha-5. The cheatsheet displays the format limit, and API TLE export rejects the request. Use an OEM ephemeris if your receiver accepts it.
VALAR always keeps the full assigned numeric catalog number. Export never truncates it or substitutes a different satellite number. A spacecraft without an assigned NORAD ID retains the generator’s 99999 placeholder.