THORAD AGENA D DEB

THORAD AGENA D DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to United States, launched on 1969-09-30 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, United States on the P-11 No. 4407 launch. After more than 57 years in orbit, it is one of the longest-surviving objects in the space catalogue. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 579 km and 624 km with an inclination of 69.9°. It travels at approximately 27,219 km/h (7.56 km/s), completing one full orbit every 97 minutes — that’s roughly 14.89 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~10–25 years. As orbital debris, THORAD AGENA D 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.

THORAD AGENA D DEB orbits at an average altitude of 602 km in the mid-LEO band, where atmospheric drag is minimal but radiation exposure remains manageable. Objects at this altitude persist for decades to centuries, making debris mitigation critical. This regime is popular for remote sensing constellations and scientific instruments that need stable, long-duration orbits. Within ±50 km of THORAD AGENA D DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 1,624 active payloads and 726 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include ONEWEB-0050, STARLINK-3005, STARLINK-3090. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 8.7% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 69.9°, THORAD AGENA D DEB passes over latitudes between 69.9°N and 69.9°S, covering most populated land masses in both hemispheres. This mid-inclination band balances global coverage with efficient launch energy requirements. United States operates approximately 13,199 active satellites in total, of which 1,043 share a similar altitude band with THORAD AGENA D DEB.