CZ-3C DEB

CZ-3C DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to China, launched on 2010-10-31 from Xichang, China on the di liu ke beidou daohang launch. After 16 years in orbit, it continues to be tracked by global surveillance networks. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 694 km and 35,932 km with an inclination of 19.9°. It travels at approximately 14,467 km/h (4.02 km/s), completing one full orbit every 10 hours 44 minutes — that’s roughly 2.24 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.7138 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. As orbital debris, CZ-3C 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-3C DEB orbits at an average altitude of 18,313 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-3C DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 1 active payload and 26 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 19.9°, CZ-3C DEB passes over latitudes between 19.9°N and 19.9°S, concentrating coverage over equatorial and near-equatorial regions. Low-inclination orbits maximise revisit rates over specific tropical zones. China operates approximately 1,218 active satellites in total.