METEOR 3-1 DEB

METEOR 3-1 DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to Russia (CIS), launched on 1985-10-24 from PKMTR on the Meteor-3 No. 2 launch. With over 41 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 1,138 km and 1,198 km with an inclination of 82.5°. It travels at approximately 26,177 km/h (7.27 km/s), completing one full orbit every 109 minutes — that’s roughly 13.24 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~500–1,000 years. As orbital debris, METEOR 3-1 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.

METEOR 3-1 DEB orbits at an average altitude of 1,168 km in the upper LEO band, where atmospheric drag is negligible and objects can persist for centuries to millennia. This altitude is used by broadband constellations like OneWeb and by scientific missions requiring stable orbits far from the densest debris bands. Within ±50 km of METEOR 3-1 DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 785 active payloads and 259 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include ONEWEB-0012, ONEWEB-0010, ONEWEB-0008. With an inclination of 82.5°, METEOR 3-1 DEB passes over latitudes between 82.5°N and 82.5°S, providing near-global coverage including the polar regions. Polar and near-polar orbits are used for reconnaissance, weather monitoring and Earth-observation missions that need to image every part of the planet. Russia (CIS) operates approximately 1,285 active satellites in total, of which 7 share a similar altitude band with METEOR 3-1 DEB.