DELTA 1 DEB

DELTA 1 DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to United States, launched on 1965-11-06 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, United States on the GEOS A launch. After more than 61 years in orbit, it is one of the longest-surviving objects in the space catalogue. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 1,073 km and 2,031 km with an inclination of 59.4°. It travels at approximately 25,534 km/h (7.09 km/s), completing one full orbit every 117 minutes — that’s roughly 12.29 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is thousands of years. As orbital debris, DELTA 1 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 1 DEB orbits at an average altitude of 1,552 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 DELTA 1 DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 66 active payloads and 372 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 59.4°, DELTA 1 DEB passes over latitudes between 59.4°N and 59.4°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 13,348 active satellites in total, of which 4 share a similar altitude band with DELTA 1 DEB.