TIROS 6 DEB

TIROS 6 DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to United States, launched on 1962-09-18 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, United States. After more than 64 years in orbit, it is one of the longest-surviving objects in the space catalogue. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 600 km and 620 km with an inclination of 58.3°. It travels at approximately 27,203 km/h (7.56 km/s), completing one full orbit every 97 minutes — that’s roughly 14.86 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~10–25 years. As orbital debris, TIROS 6 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.

TIROS 6 DEB orbits at an average altitude of 610 km in the mid-LEO band, where atmospheric drag is minimal but radiation exposure remains manageable. Objects at this altitude persist for decades to centuries, making debris mitigation critical. This regime is popular for remote sensing constellations and scientific instruments that need stable, long-duration orbits. Within ±50 km of TIROS 6 DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 1,474 active payloads and 762 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include ONEWEB-0050, STARLINK-3005, STARLINK-3090. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 7.9% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 58.3°, TIROS 6 DEB passes over latitudes between 58.3°N and 58.3°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 13,227 active satellites in total, of which 908 share a similar altitude band with TIROS 6 DEB.