DELTA 4H R/B

DELTA 4H R/B is a spent rocket body associated with United States, launched on 2009-01-18 from Cape Canaveral, Florida on the ORION 6 launch. After 17 years in orbit, it continues to be tracked by global surveillance networks. It orbits in Geostationary Orbit (GEO) at altitudes between 35,866 km and 38,155 km with an inclination of 9.7°. It travels at approximately 10,912 km/h (3.03 km/s), completing one full orbit every 25.0 hours — that’s roughly 0.96 orbits per day. At geostationary altitude, there is no meaningful atmospheric drag — this object will remain in orbit indefinitely unless actively deorbited. Spent rocket bodies like DELTA 4H 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.

DELTA 4H R/B occupies geostationary orbit at approximately 35,786 km above the equator, where its orbital period matches the Earth’s 24-hour rotation. From the ground, it appears to hover over a fixed point — ideal for broadcast television, weather monitoring and wideband communications. With an inclination of 9.7°, it traces a small figure-of-eight pattern relative to the equator rather than remaining perfectly stationary, which can indicate aging stationkeeping fuel or a deliberate inclined-orbit strategy. Within ±50 km of DELTA 4H R/B’s average altitude, there are currently 6 active payloads and 2 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. United States operates approximately 12,413 active satellites in total.