CZ-3B DEB

CZ-3B DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to China, launched on 2011-12-19 from Xichang, China on the Nigcomsat 1R launch. After 15 years in orbit, it continues to be tracked by global surveillance networks. It orbits in Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO) at altitudes between 2,008 km and 44,724 km with an inclination of 23.3°. It travels at approximately 13,180 km/h (3.66 km/s), completing one full orbit every 14 hours 11 minutes — that’s roughly 1.69 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.7182 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. As orbital debris, CZ-3B 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-3B DEB follows a Highly Elliptical Orbit, sweeping between 2,008 km (perigee) and 44,724 km (apogee). It spends most of its 14 hours 11 minutes orbital period near apogee, effectively loitering over a region of interest before rapidly sweeping through perigee — a profile used for high-latitude communications (Molniya orbits), early-warning systems and magnetospheric science. Within ±50 km of CZ-3B DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 1 active payload and 6 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 23.3°, CZ-3B DEB passes over latitudes between 23.3°N and 23.3°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 1,217 active satellites in total.