BREEZE-M DEB (TANK)

BREEZE-M DEB (TANK) is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to Russia (CIS), launched on 2020-12-14 from PKMTR on the 5A4PP? launch. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 317 km and 36,779 km with an inclination of 58.4°. It travels at approximately 14,398 km/h (4.00 km/s), completing one full orbit every 10 hours 53 minutes — that’s roughly 2.21 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.7316 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. As orbital debris, BREEZE-M DEB (TANK) 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 (TANK) orbits at an average altitude of 18,548 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 (TANK)’s average altitude, there are currently 1 active payload and 10 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 58.4°, BREEZE-M DEB (TANK) passes over latitudes between 58.4°N and 58.4°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.