FALCON HEAVY R/B

FALCON HEAVY R/B is a spent rocket body associated with United States, launched on 2023-05-01 from Cape Canaveral, Florida on the Viasat-3.1/Arcturus launch. It orbits in Geostationary Orbit (GEO) at altitudes between 34,523 km and 34,633 km with an inclination of 2.9°. It travels at approximately 11,232 km/h (3.12 km/s), completing one full orbit every 22 hours 55 minutes — that’s roughly 1.05 orbits per day. Spent rocket bodies like FALCON HEAVY 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.

FALCON HEAVY 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 2.9°, 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 FALCON HEAVY R/B’s average altitude, there are currently 1 active payload and 3 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. United States operates approximately 12,413 active satellites in total.