ELEKTRON 3 DEB

ELEKTRON 3 DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to Russia (CIS), launched on 1964-07-10 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan on the 2D No. 3 launch. After more than 62 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 400 km and 5,843 km with an inclination of 60.8°. It travels at approximately 23,328 km/h (6.48 km/s), completing one full orbit every 2 hours 34 minutes — that’s roughly 9.38 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.2867 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. As orbital debris, ELEKTRON 3 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.

ELEKTRON 3 DEB orbits at an average altitude of 3,122 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 ELEKTRON 3 DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 1 active payload and 4 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 60.8°, ELEKTRON 3 DEB passes over latitudes between 60.8°N and 60.8°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 1,285 active satellites in total.