YAOGAN 29 DEB

YAOGAN 29 DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to China, launched on 2015-11-26 from Taiyuan, China. After 11 years in orbit, it continues to be tracked by global surveillance networks. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 592 km and 597 km with an inclination of 97.9°. It travels at approximately 27,233 km/h (7.56 km/s), completing one full orbit every 97 minutes — that’s roughly 14.91 orbits per day. Its near-polar, sun-synchronous orbit means it passes over any given point on Earth at approximately the same local solar time, ideal for consistent Earth observation lighting conditions. 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 ~3–10 years. As orbital debris, YAOGAN 29 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.

YAOGAN 29 DEB orbits at an average altitude of 595 km in a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), a specialised subset of LEO where the orbital plane precesses to maintain a constant angle relative to the Sun. This provides consistent lighting conditions on every pass — essential for Earth observation, weather monitoring and environmental science. Within ±50 km of YAOGAN 29 DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 2,119 active payloads and 624 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 12.2% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 97.9°, YAOGAN 29 DEB passes over latitudes between 97.9°N and 97.9°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. China operates approximately 1,218 active satellites in total, of which 178 share a similar altitude band with YAOGAN 29 DEB.