CZ-3A DEB

CZ-3A DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to China, launched on 2007-02-02 from Xichang, China on the di si ke beidou daohang launch. After 19 years in orbit, it continues to be tracked by global surveillance networks. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 372 km and 24,152 km with an inclination of 23.2°. It travels at approximately 16,651 km/h (4.63 km/s), completing one full orbit every 7 hours 2 minutes — that’s roughly 3.41 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.6381 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. As orbital debris, CZ-3A 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.

CZ-3A DEB orbits at an average altitude of 12,262 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 CZ-3A DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 0 active payloads and 5 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 23.2°, CZ-3A DEB passes over latitudes between 23.2°N and 23.2°S, covering the tropical and temperate zones where most of the world’s population resides. Low-to-mid inclination orbits are efficient to reach from equatorial and mid-latitude launch sites. China operates approximately 1,218 active satellites in total.