ELECTRON KICK STAGE R/B

ELECTRON KICK STAGE R/B is a spent rocket body associated with United States, launched on 2026-08-20 from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, New Zealand on the QPS-SAR-18 launch. As a relatively recent addition to the catalogue, its orbital elements are well-characterised. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 231 km and 367 km with an inclination of 42.0°. It travels at approximately 27,830 km/h (7.73 km/s), completing one full orbit every 91 minutes — that’s roughly 15.93 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is weeks to months. Spent rocket bodies like ELECTRON KICK STAGE R/B are among the largest pieces of uncontrolled space debris and are priority targets for collision avoidance manoeuvres and future active debris removal efforts.

ELECTRON KICK STAGE R/B orbits at an average altitude of 299 km in the lower reaches of Low Earth Orbit, where atmospheric drag is significant and orbital lifetimes are measured in months to a few years. This is the busiest corridor in space — home to crewed spacecraft, rapid-revisit imaging satellites and the densest part of the Starlink constellation. Within ±50 km of ELECTRON KICK STAGE R/B’s average altitude, there are currently 245 active payloads and 22 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include STARLINK-1020, STARLINK-1043, STARLINK-1046. With an inclination of 42.0°, ELECTRON KICK STAGE R/B passes over latitudes between 42.0°N and 42.0°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 13,364 active satellites in total, of which 193 share a similar altitude band with ELECTRON KICK STAGE R/B.