The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is ready to track Santa today and is celebrating the program’s 70th anniversary. NORAD monitors and defends North American airspace 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. On Dec. 24, NORAD has one additional mission: tracking Santa Claus as he makes his way across the globe, delivering presents to children.
The NORAD Tracks Santa website (www.noradsanta.org) launched on Dec. 1. It features Santa’s North Pole Village, which includes a holiday countdown, games, movie theater, holiday music, web store, and more. The website is available in nine languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Chinese and Korean.
The official NORAD Tracks Santa app is also in the Apple App and Google Play stores to countdown the days until Santa’s journey on mobile devices. NORAD Tracks Sana will also be available on digital media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and X, and on contracture platforms Amazon Alexa, SiriusXM and OnStar.
Starting today, trackers worldwide can call 1-877-HI-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) to ask live operators about Santa’s location from 4 a.m. to midnight MST. Additionally, there is now a web-based calling option so children without the means to reach NORAD via phone number can call the NORAD Tracks Santa Operations Center directly from the noradsanta.org website. Virtual translation services will also be able to support more than 200 languages via the call center. While live operators will be unavailable after midnight MST, trackers can continue to follow Santa’s flight until 3 a.m. on Dec. 25 by calling and listening to the Interactive Voice Response system or visiting the website.
NORAD has been tracking Santa since 1955 when a young child dialed the misprinted phone number from a department store advertisement in the local newspaper. That phone number rang into the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Operations Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The operations center director was quick to realize a mistake had been made, and assured the youngster that he was Santa. And so began the affiliation of NORAD and Santa.
The tradition continued when NORAD was formed in 1958. Each year since, NORAD has dutifully reported Santa’s location on Dec. 24 to millions of children and families across the globe. NORAD Tracks Santa is a global experience, and the U.S. and Canadian personnel of NORAD are proud to continue the tradition of delighting families everywhere.
NORAD is a United States and Canada bi-national organization charged with the missions of aerospace warning, aerospace control and maritime warning for North America. NORAD prevents air attacks against North America, safeguarding the sovereign airspaces of the United States and Canada by responding to unknown, unwanted and unauthorized air activity approaching and operating within these airspaces.
