SLS DEB

SLS DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to United States, launched on 2022-11-16 from Cape Canaveral, Florida on the Artemis I launch. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 361 km and 1,664 km with an inclination of 30.5°. It travels at approximately 26,451 km/h (7.35 km/s), completing one full orbit every 105 minutes — that’s roughly 13.66 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~500–1,000 years. As orbital debris, SLS 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.

SLS DEB orbits at an average altitude of 1,013 km in the upper LEO band, where atmospheric drag is negligible and objects can persist for centuries to millennia. This altitude is used by broadband constellations like OneWeb and by scientific missions requiring stable orbits far from the densest debris bands. Within ±50 km of SLS DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 192 active payloads and 777 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. With an inclination of 30.5°, SLS DEB passes over latitudes between 30.5°N and 30.5°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 12,358 active satellites in total, of which 29 share a similar altitude band with SLS DEB.