FALCON HEAVY DEB

FALCON HEAVY DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to United States, launched on 2022-11-01 from Cape Canaveral, Florida on the LDPE-2 launch. It orbits in Geostationary Orbit (GEO) at altitudes between 36,173 km and 36,204 km with an inclination of 5.7°. It travels at approximately 11,017 km/h (3.06 km/s), completing one full orbit every 24.3 hours — that’s roughly 0.99 orbits per day. At geostationary altitude, there is no meaningful atmospheric drag — this object will remain in orbit indefinitely unless actively deorbited. As orbital debris, FALCON HEAVY 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.

FALCON HEAVY DEB occupies geostationary orbit at approximately 35,786 km above the equator, where its orbital period matches the Earth’s 24-hour rotation. From the ground, it appears to hover over a fixed point — ideal for broadcast television, weather monitoring and wideband communications. With an inclination of 5.7°, it traces a small figure-of-eight pattern relative to the equator rather than remaining perfectly stationary, which can indicate aging stationkeeping fuel or a deliberate inclined-orbit strategy. Within ±50 km of FALCON HEAVY DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 126 active payloads and 13 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. United States operates approximately 12,413 active satellites in total, of which 47 share a similar altitude band with FALCON HEAVY DEB.