FALCON 9 R/B

FALCON 9 R/B is a spent rocket body associated with United States, launched on 2024-09-17 from Cape Canaveral, Florida on the Galileo L13 launch. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 22,946 km and 23,008 km with an inclination of 55.2°. It travels at approximately 13,267 km/h (3.69 km/s), completing one full orbit every 13 hours 54 minutes — that’s roughly 1.73 orbits per day. Spent rocket bodies like FALCON 9 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.

FALCON 9 R/B orbits at an average altitude of 22,977 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 FALCON 9 R/B’s average altitude, there are currently 0 active payloads and 3 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 55.2°, FALCON 9 R/B passes over latitudes between 55.2°N and 55.2°S, covering most populated land masses in both hemispheres. This mid-inclination band balances global coverage with efficient launch energy requirements. United States operates approximately 12,511 active satellites in total.