THOR BURNER 2A DEB

THOR BURNER 2A DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to United States, launched on 1974-03-16 from Vandenberg SFB, California. After more than 52 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 730 km and 815 km with an inclination of 99.1°. It travels at approximately 26,892 km/h (7.47 km/s), completing one full orbit every 100 minutes — that’s roughly 14.36 orbits per day. Its near-polar, sun-synchronous orbit means it passes over any given point on Earth at approximately the same local solar time, ideal for consistent Earth observation lighting conditions. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~25–100 years. As orbital debris, THOR BURNER 2A 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.

THOR BURNER 2A DEB orbits at an average altitude of 773 km in a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), a specialised subset of LEO where the orbital plane precesses to maintain a constant angle relative to the Sun. This provides consistent lighting conditions on every pass — essential for Earth observation, weather monitoring and environmental science. Within ±50 km of THOR BURNER 2A DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 401 active payloads and 2,117 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include ONEWEB-0179, ONEWEB-0455. With an inclination of 99.1°, THOR BURNER 2A DEB passes over latitudes between 99.1°N and 99.1°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. United States operates approximately 12,262 active satellites in total, of which 148 share a similar altitude band with THOR BURNER 2A DEB.