DELTA 4 R/B

DELTA 4 R/B is a spent rocket body associated with United States, launched on 2020-12-11 from Cape Canaveral, Florida on the ORION 10? launch. It orbits in Geostationary Orbit (GEO) at altitudes between 36,185 km and 38,434 km with an inclination of 3.1°. It travels at approximately 10,875 km/h (3.02 km/s), completing one full orbit every 25.2 hours — that’s roughly 0.95 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 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 3.1°, 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 6 active payloads and 5 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. United States operates approximately 12,413 active satellites in total, of which 2 share a similar altitude band with DELTA 4 R/B.