ARIANE 5 R/B

ARIANE 5 R/B is a spent rocket body associated with France, launched on 2018-07-25 from Guiana Space Centre, Kourou on the Galileosat 23-26 launch. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 22,895 km and 22,920 km with an inclination of 57.0°. It travels at approximately 13,283 km/h (3.69 km/s), completing one full orbit every 13 hours 51 minutes — that’s roughly 1.73 orbits per day. Spent rocket bodies like ARIANE 5 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.

ARIANE 5 R/B orbits at an average altitude of 22,908 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 57.0°, ARIANE 5 R/B passes over latitudes between 57.0°N and 57.0°S, covering most populated land masses in both hemispheres. This mid-inclination band balances global coverage with efficient launch energy requirements. France operates approximately 115 active satellites in total.