COSMOS 1317 DEB

COSMOS 1317 DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to Russia (CIS), launched on 1981-10-31 from PKMTR. With over 45 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 7,838 km and 32,593 km with an inclination of 71.5°. It travels at approximately 13,939 km/h (3.87 km/s), completing one full orbit every 11 hours 59 minutes — that’s roughly 2.00 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.4656 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. As orbital debris, COSMOS 1317 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 1317 DEB orbits at an average altitude of 20,216 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 COSMOS 1317 DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 92 active payloads and 18 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include GPS BIIR-5 (PRN 22), GPS BIIR-8 (PRN 16), GPS BIIR-11 (PRN 19). With an inclination of 71.5°, COSMOS 1317 DEB passes over latitudes between 71.5°N and 71.5°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 1,286 active satellites in total, of which 46 share a similar altitude band with COSMOS 1317 DEB.