COSMOS 1174 DEB

COSMOS 1174 DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to Russia (CIS), launched on 1980-04-18 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. With over 46 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 372 km and 794 km with an inclination of 66.1°. It travels at approximately 27,255 km/h (7.57 km/s), completing one full orbit every 96 minutes — that’s roughly 14.95 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~3–10 years. As orbital debris, COSMOS 1174 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.

COSMOS 1174 DEB orbits at an average altitude of 583 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 COSMOS 1174 DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 3,333 active payloads and 569 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include ONEWEB-0050, STARLINK-3005, STARLINK-3090. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 19.3% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 66.1°, COSMOS 1174 DEB passes over latitudes between 66.1°N and 66.1°S, covering most populated land masses in both hemispheres. This mid-inclination band balances global coverage with efficient launch energy requirements. Russia (CIS) operates approximately 1,285 active satellites in total, of which 32 share a similar altitude band with COSMOS 1174 DEB.