COSMOS 375 DEB

COSMOS 375 DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to Russia (CIS), launched on 1970-10-30 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. After more than 56 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 523 km and 1,235 km with an inclination of 62.6°. It travels at approximately 26,693 km/h (7.41 km/s), completing one full orbit every 103 minutes — that’s roughly 14.04 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~100–500 years. As orbital debris, COSMOS 375 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 375 DEB orbits at an average altitude of 879 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 375 DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 196 active payloads and 1,655 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. With an inclination of 62.6°, COSMOS 375 DEB passes over latitudes between 62.6°N and 62.6°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 45 share a similar altitude band with COSMOS 375 DEB.