INMARSAT 2-F2 R/B(PAM-D)

INMARSAT 2-F2 R/B(PAM-D) is a spent rocket body associated with United States, launched on 1991-03-08 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, United States on the INMARSAT II F-2 launch. With over 35 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 282 km and 8,690 km with an inclination of 23.2°. It travels at approximately 21,813 km/h (6.06 km/s), completing one full orbit every 3 hours 8 minutes — that’s roughly 7.67 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.3872 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Spent rocket bodies like INMARSAT 2-F2 R/B(PAM-D) are among the largest pieces of uncontrolled space debris and are priority targets for collision avoidance manoeuvres and future active debris removal efforts.

INMARSAT 2-F2 R/B(PAM-D) orbits at an average altitude of 4,486 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. With an inclination of 23.2°, INMARSAT 2-F2 R/B(PAM-D) passes over latitudes between 23.2°N and 23.2°S, covering the tropical and temperate zones where most of the world’s population resides. Low-to-mid inclination orbits are efficient to reach from equatorial and mid-latitude launch sites. United States operates approximately 13,271 active satellites in total.