THOR ABLESTAR DEB

THOR ABLESTAR DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to United States, launched on 1961-06-29 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, United States. After more than 65 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 974 km and 1,991 km with an inclination of 66.7°. It travels at approximately 25,647 km/h (7.12 km/s), completing one full orbit every 116 minutes — that’s roughly 12.46 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is thousands of years. As orbital debris, THOR ABLESTAR 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.

THOR ABLESTAR DEB orbits at an average altitude of 1,483 km in the uppermost reaches of Low Earth Orbit. At this altitude, orbital decay is effectively zero without active deorbiting, and coverage footprints are significantly larger than lower LEO, though at the cost of higher latency. Within ±50 km of THOR ABLESTAR DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 418 active payloads and 393 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. With an inclination of 66.7°, THOR ABLESTAR DEB passes over latitudes between 66.7°N and 66.7°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 13,191 active satellites in total, of which 15 share a similar altitude band with THOR ABLESTAR DEB.