THOR ALTAIR DEB

THOR ALTAIR DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to United States, launched on 1966-03-31 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, United States on the DAPP 15 launch. After more than 60 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 537 km and 714 km with an inclination of 99.0°. It travels at approximately 27,173 km/h (7.55 km/s), completing one full orbit every 97 minutes — that’s roughly 14.81 orbits per day. Its near-polar, sun-synchronous orbit means it passes over any given point on Earth at approximately the same local solar time, ideal for consistent Earth observation lighting conditions. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~10–25 years. As orbital debris, THOR ALTAIR 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 ALTAIR DEB orbits at an average altitude of 626 km in a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), a specialised subset of LEO where the orbital plane precesses to maintain a constant angle relative to the Sun. This provides consistent lighting conditions on every pass — essential for Earth observation, weather monitoring and environmental science. Within ±50 km of THOR ALTAIR DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 1,022 active payloads and 880 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include ONEWEB-0050. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 5.5% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 99.0°, THOR ALTAIR DEB passes over latitudes between 99.0°N and 99.0°S, providing near-global coverage including the polar regions. Polar and near-polar orbits are used for reconnaissance, weather monitoring and Earth-observation missions that need to image every part of the planet. United States operates approximately 13,198 active satellites in total, of which 523 share a similar altitude band with THOR ALTAIR DEB.