DELTA 2 DEB

DELTA 2 DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to United States, launched on 1998-01-10 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. With over 28 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 753 km and 1,229 km with an inclination of 26.9°. It travels at approximately 26,489 km/h (7.36 km/s), completing one full orbit every 105 minutes — that’s roughly 13.72 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~100–500 years. As orbital debris, DELTA 2 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.

DELTA 2 DEB orbits at an average altitude of 991 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 DELTA 2 DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 275 active payloads and 894 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. With an inclination of 26.9°, DELTA 2 DEB passes over latitudes between 26.9°N and 26.9°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 12,259 active satellites in total, of which 85 share a similar altitude band with DELTA 2 DEB.