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, Florida. 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 589 km and 644 km with an inclination of 67.0°. It travels at approximately 27,190 km/h (7.55 km/s), completing one full orbit every 97 minutes — that’s roughly 14.84 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~10–25 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 617 km in the mid-LEO band, where atmospheric drag is minimal but radiation exposure remains manageable. Objects at this altitude persist for decades to centuries, making debris mitigation critical. This regime is popular for remote sensing constellations and scientific instruments that need stable, long-duration orbits. Within ±50 km of THOR ABLESTAR DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 1,593 active payloads and 730 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include ONEWEB-0050, STARLINK-3090, STARLINK-3077. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 9% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 67.0°, THOR ABLESTAR DEB passes over latitudes between 67.0°N and 67.0°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 12,557 active satellites in total, of which 1,105 share a similar altitude band with THOR ABLESTAR DEB.