SCOUT B DEB

SCOUT B DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to United States, launched on 1965-08-10 from Wallops Island, Virginia on the Secor Type I S/N 2 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 1,119 km and 2,329 km with an inclination of 69.2°. It travels at approximately 25,262 km/h (7.02 km/s), completing one full orbit every 2 hours 1 minutes — that’s roughly 11.90 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is thousands of years. As orbital debris, SCOUT B 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.

SCOUT B DEB orbits at an average altitude of 1,724 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 SCOUT B DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 14 active payloads and 49 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 69.2°, SCOUT B DEB passes over latitudes between 69.2°N and 69.2°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 12,358 active satellites in total.