COSMOS 985 DEB

COSMOS 985 DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to Russia (CIS), launched on 1978-01-17 from PKMTR on the Parus launch. With over 48 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 852 km and 904 km with an inclination of 82.9°. It travels at approximately 26,695 km/h (7.42 km/s), completing one full orbit every 103 minutes — that’s roughly 14.05 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~100–500 years. As orbital debris, COSMOS 985 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 985 DEB orbits at an average altitude of 878 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 COSMOS 985 DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 168 active payloads and 1,705 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. With an inclination of 82.9°, COSMOS 985 DEB passes over latitudes between 82.9°N and 82.9°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. Russia (CIS) operates approximately 1,286 active satellites in total, of which 44 share a similar altitude band with COSMOS 985 DEB.