TITAN 3A DEB (TRUSS)

TITAN 3A DEB (TRUSS) is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to United States, launched on 1965-02-11 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, United States on the Payload Truss launch. After more than 61 years in orbit, it is one of the longest-surviving objects in the space catalogue. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 2,781 km and 2,800 km with an inclination of 32.1°. It travels at approximately 23,746 km/h (6.60 km/s), completing one full orbit every 2 hours 26 minutes — that’s roughly 9.89 orbits per day. As orbital debris, TITAN 3A DEB (TRUSS) poses a potential collision risk to operational satellites in nearby orbits and is continuously monitored by the U.S. Space Surveillance Network and other tracking systems.

TITAN 3A DEB (TRUSS) orbits at an average altitude of 2,791 km in Medium Earth Orbit, the region between LEO and GEO (2,000–35,786 km). MEO’s higher altitude gives each satellite a much larger ground footprint than LEO, meaning fewer spacecraft are needed for global coverage — but signal latency is higher and radiation from the Van Allen belts is a significant design constraint. Within ±50 km of TITAN 3A DEB (TRUSS)’s average altitude, there are currently 2 active payloads and 4 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. This is a relatively sparse altitude band, containing less than 1% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 32.1°, TITAN 3A DEB (TRUSS) passes over latitudes between 32.1°N and 32.1°S, covering the tropical and temperate zones where most of the world’s population resides. Low-to-mid inclination orbits are efficient to reach from equatorial and mid-latitude launch sites. United States operates approximately 13,196 active satellites in total, of which 2 share a similar altitude band with TITAN 3A DEB (TRUSS).