GLOBALSTAR M004 DEB

GLOBALSTAR M004 DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to United States, launched on 1998-02-14 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, United States on the Globalstar D-1 launch. With over 28 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 1,302 km and 1,389 km with an inclination of 51.9°. It travels at approximately 25,874 km/h (7.19 km/s), completing one full orbit every 113 minutes — that’s roughly 12.79 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is thousands of years. As orbital debris, GLOBALSTAR M004 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.

GLOBALSTAR M004 DEB orbits at an average altitude of 1,346 km in the uppermost reaches of Low Earth Orbit. At this altitude, orbital decay is effectively zero without active deorbiting, and coverage footprints are significantly larger than lower LEO, though at the cost of higher latency. Within ±50 km of GLOBALSTAR M004 DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 32 active payloads and 244 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 51.9°, GLOBALSTAR M004 DEB passes over latitudes between 51.9°N and 51.9°S, covering most populated land masses in both hemispheres. This mid-inclination band balances global coverage with efficient launch energy requirements. United States operates approximately 13,342 active satellites in total, of which 10 share a similar altitude band with GLOBALSTAR M004 DEB.