SL-24 R/B

SL-24 R/B is a spent rocket body associated with Russia (CIS), launched on 2014-06-19 from OREN on the Dnepr Rideshare 9 launch. After 12 years in orbit, it continues to be tracked by global surveillance networks. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 609 km and 1,448 km with an inclination of 97.9°. It travels at approximately 26,422 km/h (7.34 km/s), completing one full orbit every 106 minutes — that’s roughly 13.62 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~500–1,000 years. Spent rocket bodies like SL-24 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.

SL-24 R/B orbits at an average altitude of 1,029 km in the upper LEO band, where atmospheric drag is negligible and objects can persist for centuries to millennia. This altitude is used by broadband constellations like OneWeb and by scientific missions requiring stable orbits far from the densest debris bands. Within ±50 km of SL-24 R/B’s average altitude, there are currently 257 active payloads and 604 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include ONEWEB-0041. With an inclination of 97.9°, SL-24 R/B passes over latitudes between 97.9°N and 97.9°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. Russia (CIS) operates approximately 1,286 active satellites in total, of which 102 share a similar altitude band with SL-24 R/B.