Where is Santa right now? NORAD’s tracks his 2025 Christmas Eve flight

Where is Santa right now? NORAD’s tracks his 2025 Christmas Eve flight

The binational military organization's mission of tracking Santa Claus for children is now in its 70th year.

Dylan Stableford

Reporter

Updated

Wed, December 24, 2025 at 4:32 PM UTC

2 min read

It's back! In what has become an annual ritual for millions on Christmas Eve, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, is tracking Santa Claus’s journey from the North Pole to deliver gifts to children across the globe.

NORAD’s Santa tracker website — NORADSanta.org — includes a map that allows users to track Santa’s location in real time. The site attracts tens of millions of visitors every year.

Beginning at midnight on Dec. 24, the site utilizes satellite mapping technology and digital animation to simulate the route of Santa’s reindeer and sleigh.

The tracker also features a live count of gifts delivered by Jolly Old St. Nick. At the time of this publication, that figure was more than 1.3 billion.

NORAD’s history of tracking Santa

The practice began in 1955 when a child accidentally called the unlisted number of what was then the Continental Air Defense Command Operations Center asking for Santa Claus.

Not wanting to disappoint the young caller, Air Force Col. Harry Shoup, the command center’s director of operations, “instructed his staff to check the radar for indications of Santa making his way south from the North Pole,” according to NORAD. Each year since, NORAD has dutifully reported Santa’s location on Dec. 24 to millions of children and families.

The bi-national military organization, based in Colorado Springs, Colo., eventually enlisted volunteers to answer a dedicated phone line to give updates on Santa’s whereabouts.

And the hotline still exists: You can call 1-877-HI-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) to reach one of the call center’s operators. Last Christmas Eve, it logged more than 300,000 calls.

Just don’t ask when Santa will arrive at your house.

"NORAD tracks Santa, but only Santa knows his route, which means we cannot predict where and when he will arrive at your house," the organization explains on its FAQ page. "We do, however, know from history that it appears he arrives only when children are asleep!"

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