THOR AGENA B R/B

THOR AGENA B R/B is a spent rocket body associated with United States, launched on 1962-09-29 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, United States. After more than 64 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 991 km and 1,017 km with an inclination of 80.5°. It travels at approximately 26,466 km/h (7.35 km/s), completing one full orbit every 105 minutes — that’s roughly 13.69 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~500–1,000 years. Spent rocket bodies like THOR AGENA B 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.

THOR AGENA B R/B orbits at an average altitude of 1,004 km in the upper LEO band, where atmospheric drag is negligible and objects can persist for centuries to millennia. This altitude is used by broadband constellations like OneWeb and by scientific missions requiring stable orbits far from the densest debris bands. Within ±50 km of THOR AGENA B R/B’s average altitude, there are currently 289 active payloads and 1,052 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. With an inclination of 80.5°, THOR AGENA B R/B passes over latitudes between 80.5°N and 80.5°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. United States operates approximately 13,279 active satellites in total, of which 57 share a similar altitude band with THOR AGENA B R/B.