YZ-1 R/B

YZ-1 R/B is a spent rocket body associated with China, launched on 2015-03-30 from Xichang, China on the Beidou I1-S launch. After 11 years in orbit, it continues to be tracked by global surveillance networks. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 23,858 km and 161,136 km with an inclination of 14.6°. It travels at approximately 7,228 km/h (2.01 km/s), completing one full orbit every 85.9 hours — that’s roughly 0.28 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.6942 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. At geostationary altitude, there is no meaningful atmospheric drag — this object will remain in orbit indefinitely unless actively deorbited. Spent rocket bodies like YZ-1 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.

YZ-1 R/B orbits at an average altitude of 92,497 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 14.6°, YZ-1 R/B passes over latitudes between 14.6°N and 14.6°S, concentrating coverage over equatorial and near-equatorial regions. Low-inclination orbits maximise revisit rates over specific tropical zones. China operates approximately 1,221 active satellites in total.