BREEZE-M DEB

BREEZE-M DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to Russia (CIS), launched on 2014-02-14 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan on the Turksat 4A launch. After 12 years in orbit, it continues to be tracked by global surveillance networks. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 8,282 km and 34,149 km with an inclination of 14.7°. It travels at approximately 13,684 km/h (3.80 km/s), completing one full orbit every 12 hours 40 minutes — that’s roughly 1.89 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.4688 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. As orbital debris, BREEZE-M 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.

BREEZE-M DEB orbits at an average altitude of 21,216 km in Medium Earth Orbit, the region between LEO and GEO (2,000–35,786 km). MEO’s higher altitude gives each satellite a much larger ground footprint than LEO, meaning fewer spacecraft are needed for global coverage — but signal latency is higher and radiation from the Van Allen belts is a significant design constraint. Within ±50 km of BREEZE-M DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 8 active payloads and 14 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 14.7°, BREEZE-M DEB passes over latitudes between 14.7°N and 14.7°S, concentrating coverage over equatorial and near-equatorial regions. Low-inclination orbits maximise revisit rates over specific tropical zones. Russia (CIS) operates approximately 1,285 active satellites in total.