PSLV R/B

PSLV R/B is a spent rocket body associated with India, launched on 2019-12-11 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India on the PSLV Rideshare 16 launch. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 382 km and 401 km with an inclination of 37.0°. It travels at approximately 27,639 km/h (7.68 km/s), completing one full orbit every 92 minutes — that’s roughly 15.59 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is months to ~1 year. Spent rocket bodies like PSLV R/B are among the largest pieces of uncontrolled space debris and are priority targets for collision avoidance manoeuvres and future active debris removal efforts.

PSLV R/B orbits at an average altitude of 392 km in the lower reaches of Low Earth Orbit, where atmospheric drag is significant and orbital lifetimes are measured in months to a few years. This is the busiest corridor in space — home to crewed spacecraft, rapid-revisit imaging satellites and the densest part of the Starlink constellation. Within ±50 km of PSLV R/B’s average altitude, there are currently 1,189 active payloads and 75 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include ISS (ZARYA), STARLINK-1008, STARLINK-1012. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 6.4% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 37.0°, PSLV R/B passes over latitudes between 37.0°N and 37.0°S, covering the tropical and temperate zones where most of the world’s population resides. Low-to-mid inclination orbits are efficient to reach from equatorial and mid-latitude launch sites. India operates approximately 101 active satellites in total.