CZ-3B R/B

CZ-3B R/B is a spent rocket body associated with China, launched on 2013-12-01 from Xichang, China on the CE-3 launch. After 13 years in orbit, it continues to be tracked by global surveillance networks. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 23,982 km and 526,048 km with an inclination of 43.0°. It travels at approximately 4,285 km/h (1.19 km/s), completing one full orbit every 412.6 hours — that’s roughly 0.06 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.8921 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. At geostationary altitude, there is no meaningful atmospheric drag — this object will remain in orbit indefinitely unless actively deorbited. Spent rocket bodies like CZ-3B R/B are among the largest pieces of uncontrolled space debris and are priority targets for collision avoidance manoeuvres and future active debris removal efforts.

CZ-3B R/B orbits at an average altitude of 275,015 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. With an inclination of 43.0°, CZ-3B R/B passes over latitudes between 43.0°N and 43.0°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 1,247 active satellites in total.