SL-8 DEB

SL-8 DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to Russia (CIS), launched on 1990-04-20 from PKMTR. With over 36 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 934 km and 963 km with an inclination of 82.9°. It travels at approximately 26,566 km/h (7.38 km/s), completing one full orbit every 104 minutes — that’s roughly 13.84 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~100–500 years. As orbital debris, SL-8 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.

SL-8 DEB orbits at an average altitude of 949 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 SL-8 DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 305 active payloads and 1,110 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. With an inclination of 82.9°, SL-8 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 173 share a similar altitude band with SL-8 DEB.