SL-23 R/B

SL-23 R/B is a spent rocket body associated with Russia (CIS), launched on 2013-08-31 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan on the Amos 4 launch. After 13 years in orbit, it continues to be tracked by global surveillance networks. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 2,897 km and 35,756 km with an inclination of 26.4°. It travels at approximately 14,178 km/h (3.94 km/s), completing one full orbit every 11 hours 24 minutes — that’s roughly 2.11 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.6393 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Spent rocket bodies like SL-23 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.

SL-23 R/B orbits at an average altitude of 19,327 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. With an inclination of 26.4°, SL-23 R/B passes over latitudes between 26.4°N and 26.4°S, covering the tropical and temperate zones where most of the world’s population resides. Low-to-mid inclination orbits are efficient to reach from equatorial and mid-latitude launch sites. Russia (CIS) operates approximately 1,286 active satellites in total.