CZ-5 R/B

CZ-5 R/B is a spent rocket body associated with China, launched on 2024-02-23 from Wenchang Space Launch Site, China on the TJS 11 launch. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 238 km and 31,509 km with an inclination of 16.3°. It travels at approximately 15,239 km/h (4.23 km/s), completing one full orbit every 9 hours 11 minutes — that’s roughly 2.62 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.7029 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Spent rocket bodies like CZ-5 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.

CZ-5 R/B orbits at an average altitude of 15,874 km in Medium Earth Orbit, the region between LEO and GEO (2,000–35,786 km). MEO’s higher altitude gives each satellite a much larger ground footprint than LEO, meaning fewer spacecraft are needed for global coverage — but signal latency is higher and radiation from the Van Allen belts is a significant design constraint. Within ±50 km of CZ-5 R/B’s average altitude, there are currently 1 active payload and 9 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. This is a relatively sparse altitude band, containing less than 1% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 16.3°, CZ-5 R/B passes over latitudes between 16.3°N and 16.3°S, concentrating coverage over equatorial and near-equatorial regions. Low-inclination orbits maximise revisit rates over specific tropical zones. China operates approximately 1,320 active satellites in total.