COSMOS 2392 DEB

COSMOS 2392 DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to Russia (CIS), launched on 2002-07-25 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. With over 24 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 1,177 km and 2,088 km with an inclination of 63.4°. It travels at approximately 25,406 km/h (7.06 km/s), completing one full orbit every 119 minutes — that’s roughly 12.11 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is thousands of years. As orbital debris, COSMOS 2392 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 2392 DEB orbits at an average altitude of 1,633 km in Medium Earth Orbit, the region between LEO and GEO (2,000–35,786 km). MEO’s higher altitude gives each satellite a much larger ground footprint than LEO, meaning fewer spacecraft are needed for global coverage — but signal latency is higher and radiation from the Van Allen belts is a significant design constraint. Within ±50 km of COSMOS 2392 DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 27 active payloads and 142 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 63.4°, COSMOS 2392 DEB passes over latitudes between 63.4°N and 63.4°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 12 share a similar altitude band with COSMOS 2392 DEB.