SL-16 DEB

SL-16 DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to Russia (CIS), launched on 1992-12-25 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan on the Tselina-2 launch. With over 34 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 549 km and 586 km with an inclination of 70.8°. It travels at approximately 27,286 km/h (7.58 km/s), completing one full orbit every 96 minutes — that’s roughly 15.00 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~3–10 years. As orbital debris, SL-16 DEB poses a potential collision risk to operational satellites in nearby orbits and is continuously monitored by the U.S. Space Surveillance Network and other tracking systems.

SL-16 DEB orbits at an average altitude of 568 km in the core of Low Earth Orbit, the most heavily utilised altitude band. The balance of moderate drag (limiting debris accumulation) and short signal path (enabling low-latency links and high-resolution imaging) makes this regime the default for most commercial and government missions. Within ±50 km of SL-16 DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 2,973 active payloads and 475 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include STARLINK-1184, STARLINK-1276, ONEWEB-0050. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 17% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 70.8°, SL-16 DEB passes over latitudes between 70.8°N and 70.8°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 31 share a similar altitude band with SL-16 DEB.