IUS R/B(2)

IUS R/B(2) is a spent rocket body associated with United States, launched on 1993-01-13 from Cape Canaveral, Florida on the OV-105 IUS deploy launch. With over 33 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Geostationary Orbit (GEO) at altitudes between 35,540 km and 36,115 km with an inclination of 11.8°. It travels at approximately 11,064 km/h (3.07 km/s), completing one full orbit every ~24 hours (geosynchronous) — that’s roughly 1.00 orbits per day. At geostationary altitude, there is no meaningful atmospheric drag — this object will remain in orbit indefinitely unless actively deorbited. Spent rocket bodies like IUS R/B(2) are among the largest pieces of uncontrolled space debris and are priority targets for collision avoidance manoeuvres and future active debris removal efforts.

IUS R/B(2) occupies geostationary orbit at approximately 35,786 km above the equator, where its orbital period matches the Earth’s 24-hour rotation. From the ground, it appears to hover over a fixed point — ideal for broadcast television, weather monitoring and wideband communications. With an inclination of 11.8°, it traces a small figure-of-eight pattern relative to the equator rather than remaining perfectly stationary, which can indicate aging stationkeeping fuel or a deliberate inclined-orbit strategy. Within ±50 km of IUS R/B(2)’s average altitude, there are currently 692 active payloads and 62 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include ASTRA 1N, GOES 16, TDRS 13. United States operates approximately 12,413 active satellites in total, of which 138 share a similar altitude band with IUS R/B(2).