YAOGAN 9B DEB

YAOGAN 9B DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to China, launched on 2010-03-05 from Jiuquan, China on the yaogan weixing jiuhao launch. After 16 years in orbit, it continues to be tracked by global surveillance networks. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 578 km and 1,257 km with an inclination of 63.3°. It travels at approximately 26,623 km/h (7.40 km/s), completing one full orbit every 103 minutes — that’s roughly 13.93 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~100–500 years. As orbital debris, YAOGAN 9B 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.

YAOGAN 9B DEB orbits at an average altitude of 918 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 YAOGAN 9B DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 210 active payloads and 1,164 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. With an inclination of 63.3°, YAOGAN 9B DEB passes over latitudes between 63.3°N and 63.3°S, covering most populated land masses in both hemispheres. This mid-inclination band balances global coverage with efficient launch energy requirements. China operates approximately 1,248 active satellites in total, of which 49 share a similar altitude band with YAOGAN 9B DEB.