Santa Claus took off early Christmas Eve aboard his reindeer-powered sleigh to deliver presents around the world.

That is according to the North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad), a joint-US and Canadian military command at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs that for 69 years has provided a whimsical report tracking Father Christmas.

Tracking would have gone ahead even if the federal government had shut down, a crisis the US Congress averted at the last moment this past weekend.

"Santa runs on the Christmas spirit so any possible government actions would not affect his mission," said Royal Canadian Air Force Major Jennie Derenzis, a Norad spokesperson, on Tuesday.

Military personnel at the base, which monitors air defences and issues aerospace and maritime warnings, would have been happy to track Santa anyway, and the people who answer the phone lines for kids as part of the tradition are mostly civilian volunteers, Derenzis added.

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