ATLAS 28E R/B

ATLAS 28E R/B is a spent rocket body associated with United States, launched on 1990-04-11 from Vandenberg SFB, California on the POGS launch. With over 36 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 586 km and 670 km with an inclination of 89.9°. It travels at approximately 27,168 km/h (7.55 km/s), completing one full orbit every 97 minutes — that’s roughly 14.80 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~10–25 years. Spent rocket bodies like ATLAS 28E 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 28E R/B orbits at an average altitude of 628 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 28E R/B’s average altitude, there are currently 799 active payloads and 828 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include ONEWEB-0050, STARLINK-5823, STARLINK-34374. With an inclination of 89.9°, ATLAS 28E R/B passes over latitudes between 89.9°N and 89.9°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 12,413 active satellites in total, of which 349 share a similar altitude band with ATLAS 28E R/B.