FREGAT R/B

FREGAT R/B is a spent rocket body associated with Russia (CIS), launched on 2025-03-02 from PKMTR on the Glonass-K2 No. 14L launch. As a relatively recent addition to the catalogue, its orbital elements are well-characterised. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 19,038 km and 19,118 km with an inclination of 65.1°. It travels at approximately 14,247 km/h (3.96 km/s), completing one full orbit every 11 hours 14 minutes — that’s roughly 2.14 orbits per day. Spent rocket bodies like FREGAT 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.

FREGAT R/B orbits at an average altitude of 19,078 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. Within ±50 km of FREGAT R/B’s average altitude, there are currently 8 active payloads and 47 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include COSMOS 1413 (GLONASS), COSMOS 1415 (GLONASS), COSMOS 1521 (GLONASS). This is a relatively sparse altitude band, containing less than 1% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 65.1°, FREGAT R/B passes over latitudes between 65.1°N and 65.1°S, covering most populated land masses in both hemispheres. This mid-inclination band balances global coverage with efficient launch energy requirements. Russia (CIS) operates approximately 1,286 active satellites in total, of which 8 share a similar altitude band with FREGAT R/B.