PSLV R/B

PSLV R/B is a spent rocket body associated with India, launched on 2024-12-05 from SRI on the PROBA-3 launch. It orbits in Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO) at altitudes between 1,014 km and 60,857 km with an inclination of 59.8°. It travels at approximately 11,767 km/h (3.27 km/s), completing one full orbit every 19 hours 56 minutes — that’s roughly 1.20 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.8020 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Spent rocket bodies like PSLV 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.

PSLV R/B follows a Highly Elliptical Orbit, sweeping between 1,014 km (perigee) and 60,857 km (apogee). It spends most of its 19 hours 56 minutes orbital period near apogee, effectively loitering over a region of interest before rapidly sweeping through perigee — a profile used for high-latitude communications (Molniya orbits), early-warning systems and magnetospheric science. Within ±50 km of PSLV R/B’s average altitude, there are currently 0 active payloads and 3 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 59.8°, PSLV R/B passes over latitudes between 59.8°N and 59.8°S, covering most populated land masses in both hemispheres. This mid-inclination band balances global coverage with efficient launch energy requirements. India operates approximately 108 active satellites in total.