DELTA 2 DEB (DPAF)

DELTA 2 DEB (DPAF) is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to United States, launched on 2001-12-07 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, United States on the Jason launch. With over 25 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 1,312 km and 1,330 km with an inclination of 66.0°. It travels at approximately 25,915 km/h (7.20 km/s), completing one full orbit every 112 minutes — that’s roughly 12.85 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is thousands of years. As orbital debris, DELTA 2 DEB (DPAF) 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 (DPAF) orbits at an average altitude of 1,321 km in the uppermost reaches of Low Earth Orbit. At this altitude, orbital decay is effectively zero without active deorbiting, and coverage footprints are significantly larger than lower LEO, though at the cost of higher latency. Within ±50 km of DELTA 2 DEB (DPAF)’s average altitude, there are currently 24 active payloads and 328 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. This is a relatively sparse altitude band, containing less than 1% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 66.0°, DELTA 2 DEB (DPAF) passes over latitudes between 66.0°N and 66.0°S, covering most populated land masses in both hemispheres. This mid-inclination band balances global coverage with efficient launch energy requirements. United States operates approximately 13,373 active satellites in total, of which 8 share a similar altitude band with DELTA 2 DEB (DPAF).