FREGAT DEB

FREGAT DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to Russia (CIS), launched on 2011-07-18 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan on the RadioAstron launch. After 15 years in orbit, it continues to be tracked by global surveillance networks. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 415 km and 2,397 km with an inclination of 51.4°. It travels at approximately 25,773 km/h (7.16 km/s), completing one full orbit every 114 minutes — that’s roughly 12.64 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.1274 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is thousands of years. As orbital debris, FREGAT 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.

FREGAT DEB orbits at an average altitude of 1,406 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 FREGAT DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 264 active payloads and 156 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. With an inclination of 51.4°, FREGAT DEB passes over latitudes between 51.4°N and 51.4°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 1,285 active satellites in total, of which 230 share a similar altitude band with FREGAT DEB.