RBSP B

RBSP B is an active satellite operated by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (United States), launched on 2012-08-30 from Cape Canaveral, Florida on the RBSP-A launch. After 14 years in orbit, it continues to be tracked by global surveillance networks. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 231 km and 23,653 km with an inclination of 10.2°. It travels at approximately 16,795 km/h (4.67 km/s), completing one full orbit every 6 hours 51 minutes — that’s roughly 3.50 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.6395 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Orbital Radar tracks RBSP B in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

RBSP B orbits at an average altitude of 11,942 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 RBSP B’s average altitude, there are currently 1 active payload and 4 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 10.2°, RBSP B passes over latitudes between 10.2°N and 10.2°S, concentrating coverage over equatorial and near-equatorial regions. Low-inclination orbits maximise revisit rates over specific tropical zones. United States operates approximately 12,671 active satellites in total.