TITAN 3C TRANSTAGE DEB

TITAN 3C TRANSTAGE DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to United States, launched on 1969-02-09 from Cape Canaveral, Florida on the Tacsat launch. After more than 57 years in orbit, it is one of the longest-surviving objects in the space catalogue. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 31,003 km and 39,225 km with an inclination of 2.0°. It travels at approximately 11,159 km/h (3.10 km/s), completing one full orbit every 23 hours 22 minutes — that’s roughly 1.03 orbits per day. At geostationary altitude, there is no meaningful atmospheric drag — this object will remain in orbit indefinitely unless actively deorbited. As orbital debris, TITAN 3C TRANSTAGE 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.

TITAN 3C TRANSTAGE DEB orbits at an average altitude of 35,114 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 TITAN 3C TRANSTAGE DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 0 active payloads and 8 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 2.0°, TITAN 3C TRANSTAGE DEB passes over latitudes between 2.0°N and 2.0°S, concentrating coverage over equatorial and near-equatorial regions. Low-inclination orbits maximise revisit rates over specific tropical zones. United States operates approximately 12,358 active satellites in total.