CHOLLIMA-1 R/B

CHOLLIMA-1 R/B is a spent rocket body associated with North Korea, launched on 2023-11-21 from Sohae / Tonghae, North Korea on the Manligyeong-1 F3 launch. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 343 km and 362 km with an inclination of 97.3°. It travels at approximately 27,719 km/h (7.70 km/s), completing one full orbit every 92 minutes — that’s roughly 15.72 orbits per day. Its near-polar, sun-synchronous orbit means it passes over any given point on Earth at approximately the same local solar time, ideal for consistent Earth observation lighting conditions. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is months to ~1 year. Spent rocket bodies like CHOLLIMA-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.

CHOLLIMA-1 R/B orbits at an average altitude of 353 km in a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), a specialised subset of LEO where the orbital plane precesses to maintain a constant angle relative to the Sun. This provides consistent lighting conditions on every pass — essential for Earth observation, weather monitoring and environmental science. Within ±50 km of CHOLLIMA-1 R/B’s average altitude, there are currently 1,034 active payloads and 39 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include STARLINK-1008, STARLINK-1012, STARLINK-1020. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 5.5% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 97.3°, CHOLLIMA-1 R/B passes over latitudes between 97.3°N and 97.3°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.