NOAA 17 DEB

NOAA 17 DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to United States, launched on 2002-06-24 from Vandenberg SFB, California. With over 24 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 463 km and 478 km with an inclination of 98.8°. It travels at approximately 27,479 km/h (7.63 km/s), completing one full orbit every 94 minutes — that’s roughly 15.32 orbits per day. Its near-polar, sun-synchronous orbit means it passes over any given point on Earth at approximately the same local solar time, ideal for consistent Earth observation lighting conditions. It is part of the Weather constellation group. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~1–3 years. As orbital debris, NOAA 17 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.

NOAA 17 DEB orbits at an average altitude of 471 km in a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), a specialised subset of LEO where the orbital plane precesses to maintain a constant angle relative to the Sun. This provides consistent lighting conditions on every pass — essential for Earth observation, weather monitoring and environmental science. Within ±50 km of NOAA 17 DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 7,923 active payloads and 196 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include STARLINK-1017, STARLINK-1039, STARLINK-1047. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 45.5% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 98.8°, NOAA 17 DEB passes over latitudes between 98.8°N and 98.8°S, providing near-global coverage including the polar regions. Polar and near-polar orbits are used for reconnaissance, weather monitoring and Earth-observation missions that need to image every part of the planet. United States operates approximately 12,339 active satellites in total, of which 7,353 share a similar altitude band with NOAA 17 DEB.