OPS 5798 DEB

OPS 5798 DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to United States, launched on 1964-10-06 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, United States on the NNS O-1 launch. After more than 62 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 945 km and 977 km with an inclination of 90.2°. It travels at approximately 26,544 km/h (7.37 km/s), completing one full orbit every 104 minutes — that’s roughly 13.81 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~100–500 years. As orbital debris, OPS 5798 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.

OPS 5798 DEB orbits at an average altitude of 961 km in the upper LEO band, where atmospheric drag is negligible and objects can persist for centuries to millennia. This altitude is used by broadband constellations like OneWeb and by scientific missions requiring stable orbits far from the densest debris bands. Within ±50 km of OPS 5798 DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 380 active payloads and 1,258 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. With an inclination of 90.2°, OPS 5798 DEB passes over latitudes between 90.2°N and 90.2°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, of which 134 share a similar altitude band with OPS 5798 DEB.