COSMOS 1275 DEB

COSMOS 1275 DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to Russia (CIS), launched on 1981-06-04 from PKMTR. With over 45 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 484 km and 495 km with an inclination of 83.3°. It travels at approximately 27,441 km/h (7.62 km/s), completing one full orbit every 94 minutes — that’s roughly 15.26 orbits per day. Its near-circular orbit (eccentricity close to zero) means it maintains a very consistent altitude throughout each revolution. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~1–3 years. As orbital debris, COSMOS 1275 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.

COSMOS 1275 DEB orbits at an average altitude of 490 km in the core of Low Earth Orbit, the most heavily utilised altitude band. The balance of moderate drag (limiting debris accumulation) and short signal path (enabling low-latency links and high-resolution imaging) makes this regime the default for most commercial and government missions. Within ±50 km of COSMOS 1275 DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 9,174 active payloads and 234 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include STARLINK-1017, STARLINK-1039, STARLINK-1047. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 52.6% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 83.3°, COSMOS 1275 DEB passes over latitudes between 83.3°N and 83.3°S, providing near-global coverage including the polar regions. Polar and near-polar orbits are used for reconnaissance, weather monitoring and Earth-observation missions that need to image every part of the planet. Russia (CIS) operates approximately 1,286 active satellites in total, of which 51 share a similar altitude band with COSMOS 1275 DEB.