LUCH (OLYMP) DEB

LUCH (OLYMP) DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to Russia (CIS), launched on 2014-09-27 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan on the Olymp-K launch. After 12 years in orbit, it continues to be tracked by global surveillance networks. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 28,656 km and 44,193 km with an inclination of 2.3°. It travels at approximately 10,987 km/h (3.05 km/s), completing one full orbit every 24.5 hours — that’s roughly 0.98 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.1815 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. At geostationary altitude, there is no meaningful atmospheric drag — this object will remain in orbit indefinitely unless actively deorbited. As orbital debris, LUCH (OLYMP) DEB poses a potential collision risk to operational satellites in nearby orbits and is continuously monitored by the U.S. Space Surveillance Network and other tracking systems.

LUCH (OLYMP) DEB orbits at an average altitude of 36,425 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 LUCH (OLYMP) DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 19 active payloads and 22 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 2.3°, LUCH (OLYMP) DEB passes over latitudes between 2.3°N and 2.3°S, concentrating coverage over equatorial and near-equatorial regions. Low-inclination orbits maximise revisit rates over specific tropical zones. Russia (CIS) operates approximately 1,285 active satellites in total.