ATLAS CENTAUR R/B

ATLAS CENTAUR R/B is a spent rocket body associated with United States, launched on 1972-08-21 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, United States on the OAO-C launch. After more than 54 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 612 km and 659 km with an inclination of 35.0°. It travels at approximately 27,153 km/h (7.54 km/s), completing one full orbit every 97 minutes — that’s roughly 14.78 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~10–25 years. Spent rocket bodies like ATLAS CENTAUR 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.

ATLAS CENTAUR R/B orbits at an average altitude of 636 km in the mid-LEO band, where atmospheric drag is minimal but radiation exposure remains manageable. Objects at this altitude persist for decades to centuries, making debris mitigation critical. This regime is popular for remote sensing constellations and scientific instruments that need stable, long-duration orbits. Within ±50 km of ATLAS CENTAUR R/B’s average altitude, there are currently 982 active payloads and 961 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include AQUA, ONEWEB-0050. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 5.3% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 35.0°, ATLAS CENTAUR R/B passes over latitudes between 35.0°N and 35.0°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 514 share a similar altitude band with ATLAS CENTAUR R/B.