COSMOS 700 DEB

COSMOS 700 DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to Russia (CIS), launched on 1974-12-26 from PKMTR. After more than 52 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 891 km and 924 km with an inclination of 82.9°. It travels at approximately 26,641 km/h (7.40 km/s), completing one full orbit every 103 minutes — that’s roughly 13.96 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~100–500 years. As orbital debris, COSMOS 700 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 700 DEB orbits at an average altitude of 908 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 700 DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 214 active payloads and 1,247 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. With an inclination of 82.9°, COSMOS 700 DEB passes over latitudes between 82.9°N and 82.9°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. Russia (CIS) operates approximately 1,286 active satellites in total, of which 50 share a similar altitude band with COSMOS 700 DEB.