From the answers to What is the name of the 'register' that keeps track of all the satellites? we can see that there are more than three 'registers' of artificial satellites - starting with:
- The United Nations Register of Objects launced into outer space
- The US Office of Space and Advanced Technology
- Jonathan McDowell's personal site
- Celestrak's Satellite Catalog (SATCAT)
Now imagine you have a list of satellites, and it tells you one of them should be roughly 'there' (in a particular orbit and position) above the Earth. How would you go about making sure it was 'there'? (And what are the implications if it is not 'there'?)
My question is: What is the process to verify the orbit of a satellite in a list of artificial earth satellites?