Visualize the Debris Environment
Orbital Radar's 3D tracker can visualize the full tracked debris population — nearly 45,000 catalogued objects. Use the debris overlay to see fragmentation clouds from major events, defunct satellites drifting without control, and spent rocket stages from decades of launches.
The visualization makes immediately clear how concentrated debris is in certain altitude bands — particularly between 700–1,000 km, where atmospheric drag is too weak for natural cleanup but the population density is high.
What You'll See
LEO Debris Shell (200–2,000 km): The densest region, containing fragments from the Fengyun-1C ASAT test, the Cosmos-Iridium collision, and thousands of smaller fragmentation events. This is where the collision risk is highest.
MEO (2,000–35,000 km): Sparsely populated but home to navigation satellite debris and spent transfer stages.
GEO (35,786 km): The geostationary belt contains defunct communications and weather satellites. Objects here will remain in orbit essentially forever — there is no atmospheric drag at GEO altitude.
How to Use the Map
Open the Orbital Radar tracker and use the Legend panel to toggle debris categories on and off. The colour coding distinguishes between active payloads, debris, and rocket bodies. You can also use the Space Debris Tracking Guide for a full walkthrough of Orbital Radar's debris features.
For the broader context of the debris problem, see Space Debris Statistics — including tracked object counts, mass estimates and growth trends.