FENGYUN 1C DEB

FENGYUN 1C DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to China, launched on 1999-05-10 from Taiyuan, China. With over 27 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 741 km and 888 km with an inclination of 100.2°. It travels at approximately 26,813 km/h (7.45 km/s), completing one full orbit every 101 minutes — that’s roughly 14.30 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~100–500 years. As orbital debris, FENGYUN 1C 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.

FENGYUN 1C DEB orbits at an average altitude of 815 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 FENGYUN 1C DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 404 active payloads and 2,313 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include NOAA 20, ONEWEB-0179, ONEWEB-0455. With an inclination of 100.2°, FENGYUN 1C DEB passes over latitudes between 100.2°N and 100.2°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. China operates approximately 1,194 active satellites in total, of which 100 share a similar altitude band with FENGYUN 1C DEB.