SL-12 R/B(2)

SL-12 R/B(2) is a spent rocket body associated with Russia (CIS), launched on 1996-04-08 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan on the Astra 1F launch. With over 30 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 11,882 km and 36,027 km with an inclination of 5.0°. It travels at approximately 13,052 km/h (3.63 km/s), completing one full orbit every 14 hours 36 minutes — that’s roughly 1.64 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.3981 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Spent rocket bodies like SL-12 R/B(2) are among the largest pieces of uncontrolled space debris and are priority targets for collision avoidance manoeuvres and future active debris removal efforts.

SL-12 R/B(2) orbits at an average altitude of 23,955 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 5.0°, SL-12 R/B(2) passes over latitudes between 5.0°N and 5.0°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.