NTS 1 AKM

NTS 1 AKM is a spent rocket body associated with United States, launched on 1974-07-14 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, United States on the NTS 1 launch. After more than 52 years in orbit, it is one of the longest-surviving objects in the space catalogue. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 13,501 km and 13,722 km with an inclination of 124.9°. It travels at approximately 16,079 km/h (4.47 km/s), completing one full orbit every 7 hours 49 minutes — that’s roughly 3.07 orbits per day. Spent rocket bodies like NTS 1 AKM are among the largest pieces of uncontrolled space debris and are priority targets for collision avoidance manoeuvres and future active debris removal efforts.

NTS 1 AKM orbits at an average altitude of 13,612 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 NTS 1 AKM’s average altitude, there are currently 2 active payloads and 10 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 124.9°, NTS 1 AKM passes over latitudes between 124.9°N and 124.9°S, providing near-global coverage including the polar regions. Polar and near-polar orbits are used for reconnaissance, weather monitoring and Earth-observation missions that need to image every part of the planet. United States operates approximately 13,206 active satellites in total.