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 546 km and 651 km with an inclination of 70.9°. It travels at approximately 27,225 km/h (7.56 km/s), completing one full orbit every 97 minutes — that’s roughly 14.90 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 599 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 2,114 active payloads and 648 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include ONEWEB-0050, STARLINK-3005, STARLINK-3090. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 12.1% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 70.9°, SL-16 DEB passes over latitudes between 70.9°N and 70.9°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 25 share a similar altitude band with SL-16 DEB.