CZ-3B R/B

CZ-3B R/B is a spent rocket body associated with China, launched on 2016-06-12 from Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China on the Beidou G7 launch. After 10 years in orbit, it continues to be tracked by global surveillance networks. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 188 km and 17,107 km with an inclination of 19.4°. It travels at approximately 18,546 km/h (5.15 km/s), completing one full orbit every 5 hours 6 minutes — that’s roughly 4.71 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.5633 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. 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 8,648 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-3B R/B’s average altitude, there are currently 0 active payloads and 15 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 19.4°, CZ-3B R/B passes over latitudes between 19.4°N and 19.4°S, concentrating coverage over equatorial and near-equatorial regions. Low-inclination orbits maximise revisit rates over specific tropical zones. China operates approximately 1,321 active satellites in total.