CZ-3C DEB

CZ-3C DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to China, launched on 2012-02-24 from Xichang, China on the di shiyi ke beidou d.w. 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 1,177 km and 36,034 km with an inclination of 20.5°. It travels at approximately 14,382 km/h (3.99 km/s), completing one full orbit every 10 hours 55 minutes — that’s roughly 2.20 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.6978 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 18,606 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 17 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 20.5°, CZ-3C DEB passes over latitudes between 20.5°N and 20.5°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 1,218 active satellites in total.