The North American Aerospace Defense Command is busy tracking Santa on December 24, 2024 for the program’s 69th year in the NORAD Tracks Santa Operations Center located on Peterson Space Force Base, Colo. (Thomas Paul/Defense Department)
The North American Aerospace Defense Command is set to launch its Santa tracking program Monday, giving kids and families a front-row seat to Santa Claus’s Christmas Eve journey.
NORAD has tracked Santa for 70 years as he soars across the globe delivering presents in addition to monitoring and defending North American airspace every day.
The NORAD Tracks Santa website (www.noradsanta.org) 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, according to a service news release.
On Dec. 24, trackers worldwide can call 1-877-HI-NORAD from 4 a.m. to midnight MST to ask live operators about Santa’s location. For children without access to a phone, a new web-based calling option will allow them to contact the NORAD Tracks Santa Operations Center directly through the website.
Virtual translation services will also be able to support more than 200 languages via the call center. After midnight MST, live operators will sign off, but trackers can continue to follow Santa’s flight until 3 a.m. on Dec. 25 via NORAD’s Interactive Voice Response system or the website.
Users can count down the days until Santa’s journey on mobile devices with the official NORAD Tracks Santa app, which is available in the Apple and Google Play stores. NORAD Tracks Santa will also be available on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and X, and other platforms such as Amazon Alexa, SiriusXM and OnStar.
