CZ-3B R/B

CZ-3B R/B is a spent rocket body associated with China, launched on 2024-05-09 from Xichang, China on the Zhuhui Tianwang 1-01 launch. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 132 km and 906 km with an inclination of 53.0°. It travels at approximately 27,382 km/h (7.61 km/s), completing one full orbit every 95 minutes — that’s roughly 15.20 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~3–10 years. Spent rocket bodies like CZ-3B 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.

CZ-3B R/B orbits at an average altitude of 519 km in the core of Low Earth Orbit, the most heavily utilised altitude band. The balance of moderate drag (limiting debris accumulation) and short signal path (enabling low-latency links and high-resolution imaging) makes this regime the default for most commercial and government missions. Within ±50 km of CZ-3B R/B’s average altitude, there are currently 7,642 active payloads and 272 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include STARLINK-1039, STARLINK-1184, STARLINK-1231. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 43.7% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 53.0°, CZ-3B R/B passes over latitudes between 53.0°N and 53.0°S, covering most populated land masses in both hemispheres. This mid-inclination band balances global coverage with efficient launch energy requirements. China operates approximately 1,221 active satellites in total, of which 219 share a similar altitude band with CZ-3B R/B.