ATLAS 41E R/B

ATLAS 41E R/B is a spent rocket body associated with United States, launched on 1985-03-13 from Vandenberg SFB, California on the Geosat launch. With over 41 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 720 km and 768 km with an inclination of 108.0°. It travels at approximately 26,945 km/h (7.48 km/s), completing one full orbit every 100 minutes — that’s roughly 14.44 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~25–100 years. Spent rocket bodies like ATLAS 41E R/B are among the largest pieces of uncontrolled space debris and are priority targets for collision avoidance manoeuvres and future active debris removal efforts.

ATLAS 41E R/B orbits at an average altitude of 744 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 ATLAS 41E R/B’s average altitude, there are currently 369 active payloads and 1,924 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include LANDSAT 9. With an inclination of 108.0°, ATLAS 41E R/B passes over latitudes between 108.0°N and 108.0°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 12,413 active satellites in total, of which 145 share a similar altitude band with ATLAS 41E R/B.