NOAA 12 DEB

NOAA 12 DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to United States, launched on 1991-05-14 from Vandenberg SFB, California. With over 35 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 604 km and 605 km with an inclination of 98.1°. It travels at approximately 27,213 km/h (7.56 km/s), completing one full orbit every 97 minutes — that’s roughly 14.88 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. Its near-circular orbit (eccentricity close to zero) means it maintains a very consistent altitude throughout each revolution. It is part of the Weather constellation group. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~10–25 years. As orbital debris, NOAA 12 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.

NOAA 12 DEB orbits at an average altitude of 605 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 NOAA 12 DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 1,631 active payloads and 685 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include ONEWEB-0050, STARLINK-3005, STARLINK-3090. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 9.4% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 98.1°, NOAA 12 DEB passes over latitudes between 98.1°N and 98.1°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 12,339 active satellites in total, of which 1,088 share a similar altitude band with NOAA 12 DEB.