THOR ABLESTAR DEB

THOR ABLESTAR DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to United States, launched on 1961-06-29 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, United States. After more than 65 years in orbit, it is one of the longest-surviving objects in the space catalogue. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 538 km and 580 km with an inclination of 66.7°. It travels at approximately 27,303 km/h (7.58 km/s), completing one full orbit every 96 minutes — that’s roughly 15.03 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~3–10 years. As orbital debris, THOR ABLESTAR DEB 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.

THOR ABLESTAR DEB orbits at an average altitude of 559 km in the core of Low Earth Orbit, the most heavily utilised altitude band. The balance of moderate drag (limiting debris accumulation) and short signal path (enabling low-latency links and high-resolution imaging) makes this regime the default for most commercial and government missions. Within ±50 km of THOR ABLESTAR DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 1,495 active payloads and 453 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include STARLINK-1184, STARLINK-1276, ONEWEB-0050. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 8% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 66.7°, THOR ABLESTAR DEB passes over latitudes between 66.7°N and 66.7°S, covering most populated land masses in both hemispheres. This mid-inclination band balances global coverage with efficient launch energy requirements. United States operates approximately 13,196 active satellites in total, of which 925 share a similar altitude band with THOR ABLESTAR DEB.