DELTA 4 R/B

DELTA 4 R/B is a spent rocket body associated with United States, launched on 2012-06-29 from Cape Canaveral, Florida on the ORION 8 launch. After 14 years in orbit, it continues to be tracked by global surveillance networks. It orbits in Geostationary Orbit (GEO) at altitudes between 34,198 km and 35,799 km with an inclination of 7.0°. It travels at approximately 11,175 km/h (3.10 km/s), completing one full orbit every 23 hours 16 minutes — that’s roughly 1.03 orbits per day. Spent rocket bodies like DELTA 4 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.

DELTA 4 R/B 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 7.0°, 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 DELTA 4 R/B’s average altitude, there are currently 0 active payloads and 13 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. United States operates approximately 12,413 active satellites in total.