BREEZE-M DEB

BREEZE-M DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to Russia (CIS), launched on 2012-05-17 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan on the Nimiq 6 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 10,709 km and 34,376 km with an inclination of 10.1°. It travels at approximately 13,367 km/h (3.71 km/s), completing one full orbit every 13 hours 36 minutes — that’s roughly 1.77 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.4093 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. As orbital debris, BREEZE-M 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.

BREEZE-M DEB orbits at an average altitude of 22,543 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 BREEZE-M DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 0 active payloads and 11 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 10.1°, BREEZE-M DEB passes over latitudes between 10.1°N and 10.1°S, concentrating coverage over equatorial and near-equatorial regions. Low-inclination orbits maximise revisit rates over specific tropical zones. Russia (CIS) operates approximately 1,285 active satellites in total.