CRRES DEB (CANISTER)

CRRES DEB (CANISTER) is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to United States, launched on 1990-07-25 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, United States on the CRRES launch. With over 36 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 344 km and 30,843 km with an inclination of 17.7°. It travels at approximately 15,336 km/h (4.26 km/s), completing one full orbit every 9 hours — that’s roughly 2.67 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.6943 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. As orbital debris, CRRES DEB (CANISTER) 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.

CRRES DEB (CANISTER) orbits at an average altitude of 15,594 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 CRRES DEB (CANISTER)’s average altitude, there are currently 1 active payload and 9 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. This is a relatively sparse altitude band, containing less than 1% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 17.7°, CRRES DEB (CANISTER) passes over latitudes between 17.7°N and 17.7°S, concentrating coverage over equatorial and near-equatorial regions. Low-inclination orbits maximise revisit rates over specific tropical zones. United States operates approximately 13,198 active satellites in total.