COSMOS 374 DEB

COSMOS 374 DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to Russia (CIS), launched on 1970-10-23 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan on the I2P launch. After more than 56 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 444 km and 758 km with an inclination of 62.9°. It travels at approximately 27,220 km/h (7.56 km/s), completing one full orbit every 97 minutes — that’s roughly 14.89 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~10–25 years. As orbital debris, COSMOS 374 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.

COSMOS 374 DEB orbits at an average altitude of 601 km in the mid-LEO band, where atmospheric drag is minimal but radiation exposure remains manageable. Objects at this altitude persist for decades to centuries, making debris mitigation critical. This regime is popular for remote sensing constellations and scientific instruments that need stable, long-duration orbits. Within ±50 km of COSMOS 374 DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 1,638 active payloads and 663 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include ONEWEB-0050, STARLINK-3005, STARLINK-3090. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 9.4% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 62.9°, COSMOS 374 DEB passes over latitudes between 62.9°N and 62.9°S, covering most populated land masses in both hemispheres. This mid-inclination band balances global coverage with efficient launch energy requirements. Russia (CIS) operates approximately 1,286 active satellites in total, of which 24 share a similar altitude band with COSMOS 374 DEB.