ELECTRON KICK STAGE R/B

ELECTRON KICK STAGE R/B is a spent rocket body associated with United States, launched on 2023-07-18 from RLLC on the Electron 39 Rideshare launch. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 449 km and 876 km with an inclination of 99.3°. It travels at approximately 27,101 km/h (7.53 km/s), completing one full orbit every 98 minutes — that’s roughly 14.70 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 ~10–25 years. Spent rocket bodies like ELECTRON KICK STAGE 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.

ELECTRON KICK STAGE R/B orbits at an average altitude of 663 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 ELECTRON KICK STAGE R/B’s average altitude, there are currently 654 active payloads and 1,119 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include TERRA, AQUA, LANDSAT 9. With an inclination of 99.3°, ELECTRON KICK STAGE R/B passes over latitudes between 99.3°N and 99.3°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. United States operates approximately 12,413 active satellites in total, of which 288 share a similar altitude band with ELECTRON KICK STAGE R/B.