CZ-7A R/B

CZ-7A R/B is a spent rocket body associated with China, launched on 2025-05-20 from Wenchang Space Launch Site, China on the ZX-3B launch. As a relatively recent addition to the catalogue, its orbital elements are well-characterised. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 179 km and 22,066 km with an inclination of 15.4°. It travels at approximately 17,184 km/h (4.77 km/s), completing one full orbit every 6 hours 24 minutes — that’s roughly 3.75 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.6256 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Spent rocket bodies like CZ-7A 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-7A R/B orbits at an average altitude of 11,123 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-7A 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 15.4°, CZ-7A R/B passes over latitudes between 15.4°N and 15.4°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.