FREGAT R/B

FREGAT R/B is a spent rocket body associated with Russia (CIS), launched on 2011-10-02 from PKMTR on the Uragan-M No. 742 launch. After 15 years in orbit, it continues to be tracked by global surveillance networks. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 19,210 km and 19,623 km with an inclination of 65.2°. It travels at approximately 14,154 km/h (3.93 km/s), completing one full orbit every 11 hours 27 minutes — that’s roughly 2.10 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 19,417 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 0 active payloads and 15 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 65.2°, FREGAT R/B passes over latitudes between 65.2°N and 65.2°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.