ARIANE 42P DEB *

ARIANE 42P DEB * is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to France, launched on 1992-08-10 from Guiana Space Centre, Kourou on the Topex-Poseidon launch. With over 34 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 561 km and 2,413 km with an inclination of 65.8°. It travels at approximately 25,640 km/h (7.12 km/s), completing one full orbit every 116 minutes — that’s roughly 12.45 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.1178 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, ARIANE 42P 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.

ARIANE 42P DEB * orbits at an average altitude of 1,487 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 ARIANE 42P DEB *’s average altitude, there are currently 283 active payloads and 258 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. With an inclination of 65.8°, ARIANE 42P DEB * passes over latitudes between 65.8°N and 65.8°S, covering most populated land masses in both hemispheres. This mid-inclination band balances global coverage with efficient launch energy requirements. France operates approximately 115 active satellites in total.