PSLV R/B

PSLV R/B is a spent rocket body associated with India, launched on 2024-12-05 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India on the PROBA-3 launch. It orbits in Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO) at altitudes between 1,046 km and 60,825 km with an inclination of 60.0°. It travels at approximately 11,767 km/h (3.27 km/s), completing one full orbit every 19 hours 56 minutes — that’s roughly 1.20 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.8012 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Spent rocket bodies like PSLV 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.

PSLV R/B follows a Highly Elliptical Orbit, sweeping between 1,046 km (perigee) and 60,825 km (apogee). It spends most of its 19 hours 56 minutes orbital period near apogee, effectively loitering over a region of interest before rapidly sweeping through perigee — a profile used for high-latitude communications (Molniya orbits), early-warning systems and magnetospheric science. With an inclination of 60.0°, PSLV R/B passes over latitudes between 60.0°N and 60.0°S, covering most populated land masses in both hemispheres. This mid-inclination band balances global coverage with efficient launch energy requirements. India operates approximately 106 active satellites in total.