COSMOS 1220 DEB

COSMOS 1220 DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to Russia (CIS), launched on 1980-11-04 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. With over 46 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 398 km and 472 km with an inclination of 65.0°. It travels at approximately 27,550 km/h (7.65 km/s), completing one full orbit every 93 minutes — that’s roughly 15.44 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~1–3 years. As orbital debris, COSMOS 1220 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 1220 DEB orbits at an average altitude of 435 km in the core of Low Earth Orbit, the most heavily utilised altitude band. The balance of moderate drag (limiting debris accumulation) and short signal path (enabling low-latency links and high-resolution imaging) makes this regime the default for most commercial and government missions. Within ±50 km of COSMOS 1220 DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 7,612 active payloads and 146 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include STARLINK-1008, STARLINK-1012, STARLINK-1017. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 43.7% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 65.0°, COSMOS 1220 DEB passes over latitudes between 65.0°N and 65.0°S, covering most populated land masses in both hemispheres. This mid-inclination band balances global coverage with efficient launch energy requirements. Russia (CIS) operates approximately 1,286 active satellites in total, of which 44 share a similar altitude band with COSMOS 1220 DEB.