DELTA 4 R/B

DELTA 4 R/B is a spent rocket body associated with United States, launched on 2012-10-04 from Cape Canaveral, Florida on the GPS SVN 65 launch. After 14 years in orbit, it continues to be tracked by global surveillance networks. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 20,630 km and 21,793 km with an inclination of 52.9°. It travels at approximately 13,685 km/h (3.80 km/s), completing one full orbit every 12 hours 40 minutes — that’s roughly 1.89 orbits per day. Spent rocket bodies like DELTA 4 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 4 R/B orbits at an average altitude of 21,212 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. Within ±50 km of DELTA 4 R/B’s average altitude, there are currently 8 active payloads and 14 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. This is a relatively sparse altitude band, containing less than 1% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 52.9°, DELTA 4 R/B passes over latitudes between 52.9°N and 52.9°S, covering most populated land masses in both hemispheres. This mid-inclination band balances global coverage with efficient launch energy requirements. United States operates approximately 12,413 active satellites in total, of which 8 share a similar altitude band with DELTA 4 R/B.