FREGAT R/B

FREGAT R/B is a spent rocket body associated with Russia (CIS), launched on 2005-12-28 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan on the GSTB-v2/A launch. With over 21 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 23,391 km and 23,480 km with an inclination of 59.0°. It travels at approximately 13,165 km/h (3.66 km/s), completing one full orbit every 14 hours 14 minutes — that’s roughly 1.69 orbits per day. Spent rocket bodies like FREGAT 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.

FREGAT R/B orbits at an average altitude of 23,436 km in Medium Earth Orbit, the region between LEO and GEO (2,000–35,786 km). MEO’s higher altitude gives each satellite a much larger ground footprint than LEO, meaning fewer spacecraft are needed for global coverage — but signal latency is higher and radiation from the Van Allen belts is a significant design constraint. Within ±50 km of FREGAT R/B’s average altitude, there are currently 2 active payloads and 6 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. This is a relatively sparse altitude band, containing less than 1% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 59.0°, FREGAT R/B passes over latitudes between 59.0°N and 59.0°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.