COSMOS 2392 DEB

COSMOS 2392 DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to Russia (CIS), launched on 2002-07-25 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. With over 24 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 1,228 km and 1,869 km with an inclination of 63.4°. It travels at approximately 25,540 km/h (7.09 km/s), completing one full orbit every 117 minutes — that’s roughly 12.30 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is thousands of years. As orbital debris, COSMOS 2392 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 2392 DEB orbits at an average altitude of 1,549 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 COSMOS 2392 DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 50 active payloads and 252 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 63.4°, COSMOS 2392 DEB passes over latitudes between 63.4°N and 63.4°S, covering most populated land masses in both hemispheres. This mid-inclination band balances global coverage with efficient launch energy requirements. Russia (CIS) operates approximately 1,286 active satellites in total, of which 37 share a similar altitude band with COSMOS 2392 DEB.