OBJECT C

OBJECT C (NORAD ID 51948) is a space object catalogued under China, launched on 2022-03-05 from Xichang, China on the Yinhe 2-01/06 launch. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 441 km and 584 km with an inclination of 63.5°. It travels at approximately 27,395 km/h (7.61 km/s), completing one full orbit every 95 minutes — that’s roughly 15.18 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~3–10 years. Orbital Radar tracks OBJECT C in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

OBJECT C orbits at an average altitude of 513 km in the core of Low Earth Orbit, the most heavily utilised altitude band. The balance of moderate drag (limiting debris accumulation) and short signal path (enabling low-latency links and high-resolution imaging) makes this regime the default for most commercial and government missions. Within ±50 km of OBJECT C’s average altitude, there are currently 8,923 active payloads and 263 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include STARLINK-1017, STARLINK-1039, STARLINK-1184. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 51.2% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 63.5°, OBJECT C passes over latitudes between 63.5°N and 63.5°S, covering most populated land masses in both hemispheres. This mid-inclination band balances global coverage with efficient launch energy requirements. China operates approximately 1,217 active satellites in total, of which 217 share a similar altitude band with OBJECT C.