DELTA 1 R/B

DELTA 1 R/B is a spent rocket body associated with United States, launched on 1962-12-13 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, United States. After more than 64 years in orbit, it is one of the longest-surviving objects in the space catalogue. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 1,327 km and 7,410 km with an inclination of 47.5°. It travels at approximately 21,932 km/h (6.09 km/s), completing one full orbit every 3 hours 5 minutes — that’s roughly 7.79 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.2832 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Spent rocket bodies like DELTA 1 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.

DELTA 1 R/B orbits at an average altitude of 4,369 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. With an inclination of 47.5°, DELTA 1 R/B passes over latitudes between 47.5°N and 47.5°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. United States operates approximately 13,206 active satellites in total.