OV1-5 DEB

OV1-5 DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to United States, launched on 1966-03-30 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, United States on the OV1-4S launch. After more than 60 years in orbit, it is one of the longest-surviving objects in the space catalogue. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 493 km and 511 km with an inclination of 144.6°. It travels at approximately 27,416 km/h (7.62 km/s), completing one full orbit every 95 minutes — that’s roughly 15.21 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~3–10 years. As orbital debris, OV1-5 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.

OV1-5 DEB orbits at an average altitude of 502 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 OV1-5 DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 10,287 active payloads and 241 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include STARLINK-1039, STARLINK-1184, STARLINK-1231. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 55% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 144.6°, OV1-5 DEB passes over latitudes between 144.6°N and 144.6°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 13,196 active satellites in total, of which 9,645 share a similar altitude band with OV1-5 DEB.