BREEZE-M R/B

BREEZE-M R/B is a spent rocket body associated with Russia (CIS), launched on 2018-12-21 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan on the Blagovest 13L launch. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 35,502 km and 42,057 km with an inclination of 7.5°. It travels at approximately 10,696 km/h (2.97 km/s), completing one full orbit every 26.5 hours — that’s roughly 0.90 orbits per day. At geostationary altitude, there is no meaningful atmospheric drag — this object will remain in orbit indefinitely unless actively deorbited. Spent rocket bodies like BREEZE-M 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.

BREEZE-M R/B orbits at an average altitude of 38,780 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 7.5°, BREEZE-M R/B passes over latitudes between 7.5°N and 7.5°S, concentrating coverage over equatorial and near-equatorial regions. Low-inclination orbits maximise revisit rates over specific tropical zones. Russia (CIS) operates approximately 1,286 active satellites in total.