COSMOS 1275 DEB

COSMOS 1275 DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to Russia (CIS), launched on 1981-06-04 from PKMTR. With over 45 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 950 km and 1,014 km with an inclination of 83.0°. It travels at approximately 26,506 km/h (7.36 km/s), completing one full orbit every 105 minutes — that’s roughly 13.75 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~100–500 years. As orbital debris, COSMOS 1275 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 1275 DEB orbits at an average altitude of 982 km in the upper LEO band, where atmospheric drag is negligible and objects can persist for centuries to millennia. This altitude is used by broadband constellations like OneWeb and by scientific missions requiring stable orbits far from the densest debris bands. Within ±50 km of COSMOS 1275 DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 280 active payloads and 935 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. With an inclination of 83.0°, COSMOS 1275 DEB passes over latitudes between 83.0°N and 83.0°S, providing near-global coverage including the polar regions. Polar and near-polar orbits are used for reconnaissance, weather monitoring and Earth-observation missions that need to image every part of the planet. Russia (CIS) operates approximately 1,287 active satellites in total, of which 158 share a similar altitude band with COSMOS 1275 DEB.