ARIANE 1 DEB

ARIANE 1 DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to France, launched on 1986-02-22 from Guiana Space Centre, Kourou on the SPOT launch. With over 40 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 728 km and 1,288 km with an inclination of 98.9°. It travels at approximately 26,459 km/h (7.35 km/s), completing one full orbit every 105 minutes — that’s roughly 13.68 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~500–1,000 years. As orbital debris, ARIANE 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.

ARIANE 1 DEB orbits at an average altitude of 1,008 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 ARIANE 1 DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 202 active payloads and 824 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. With an inclination of 98.9°, ARIANE 1 DEB passes over latitudes between 98.9°N and 98.9°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. France operates approximately 115 active satellites in total.