H-1 R/B(MABES)

H-1 R/B(MABES) is a spent rocket body associated with Japan, launched on 1986-08-12 from TNSTA on the EGP launch. With over 40 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 1,481 km and 1,595 km with an inclination of 50.0°. It travels at approximately 25,557 km/h (7.10 km/s), completing one full orbit every 117 minutes — that’s roughly 12.33 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is thousands of years. Spent rocket bodies like H-1 R/B(MABES) are among the largest pieces of uncontrolled space debris and are priority targets for collision avoidance manoeuvres and future active debris removal efforts.

H-1 R/B(MABES) orbits at an average altitude of 1,538 km in the uppermost reaches of Low Earth Orbit. At this altitude, orbital decay is effectively zero without active deorbiting, and coverage footprints are significantly larger than lower LEO, though at the cost of higher latency. Within ±50 km of H-1 R/B(MABES)’s average altitude, there are currently 124 active payloads and 266 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. With an inclination of 50.0°, H-1 R/B(MABES) passes over latitudes between 50.0°N and 50.0°S, covering most populated land masses in both hemispheres. This mid-inclination band balances global coverage with efficient launch energy requirements. Japan operates approximately 190 active satellites in total.