FENGYUN 1C DEB

FENGYUN 1C DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to China, launched on 1999-05-10 from Taiyuan, China on the Feng Yun Yi Beng launch. With over 27 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 324 km and 463 km with an inclination of 97.0°. It travels at approximately 27,635 km/h (7.68 km/s), completing one full orbit every 92 minutes — that’s roughly 15.58 orbits per day. Its near-polar, sun-synchronous orbit means it passes over any given point on Earth at approximately the same local solar time, ideal for consistent Earth observation lighting conditions. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is months to ~1 year. As orbital debris, FENGYUN 1C 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.

FENGYUN 1C DEB orbits at an average altitude of 394 km in a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), a specialised subset of LEO where the orbital plane precesses to maintain a constant angle relative to the Sun. This provides consistent lighting conditions on every pass — essential for Earth observation, weather monitoring and environmental science. Within ±50 km of FENGYUN 1C DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 1,306 active payloads and 84 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include STARLINK-1008, STARLINK-1012, STARLINK-1020. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 7.5% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 97.0°, FENGYUN 1C DEB passes over latitudes between 97.0°N and 97.0°S, providing near-global coverage including the polar regions. Polar and near-polar orbits are used for reconnaissance, weather monitoring and Earth-observation missions that need to image every part of the planet. China operates approximately 1,221 active satellites in total, of which 41 share a similar altitude band with FENGYUN 1C DEB.