THOR ABLESTAR R/B

THOR ABLESTAR R/B is a spent rocket body associated with United States, launched on 1960-10-04 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, United States. After more than 66 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 920 km and 1,201 km with an inclination of 28.3°. It travels at approximately 26,365 km/h (7.32 km/s), completing one full orbit every 106 minutes — that’s roughly 13.53 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~500–1,000 years. Spent rocket bodies like THOR ABLESTAR 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.

THOR ABLESTAR R/B orbits at an average altitude of 1,061 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 THOR ABLESTAR R/B’s average altitude, there are currently 309 active payloads and 608 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include ONEWEB-0041. With an inclination of 28.3°, THOR ABLESTAR R/B passes over latitudes between 28.3°N and 28.3°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 13,206 active satellites in total, of which 42 share a similar altitude band with THOR ABLESTAR R/B.