LAGEOS 2 AKM (MAGE 1S)

LAGEOS 2 AKM (MAGE 1S) is a spent rocket body associated with Italy, launched on 1992-10-22 from Cape Canaveral, Florida on the OV-102 Research/Med dep launch. With over 34 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 5,615 km and 5,950 km with an inclination of 52.6°. It travels at approximately 20,617 km/h (5.73 km/s), completing one full orbit every 3 hours 42 minutes — that’s roughly 6.47 orbits per day. Spent rocket bodies like LAGEOS 2 AKM (MAGE 1S) are among the largest pieces of uncontrolled space debris and are priority targets for collision avoidance manoeuvres and future active debris removal efforts.

LAGEOS 2 AKM (MAGE 1S) orbits at an average altitude of 5,783 km in Medium Earth Orbit, the region between LEO and GEO (2,000–35,786 km). MEO’s higher altitude gives each satellite a much larger ground footprint than LEO, meaning fewer spacecraft are needed for global coverage — but signal latency is higher and radiation from the Van Allen belts is a significant design constraint. Within ±50 km of LAGEOS 2 AKM (MAGE 1S)’s average altitude, there are currently 0 active payloads and 4 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 52.6°, LAGEOS 2 AKM (MAGE 1S) passes over latitudes between 52.6°N and 52.6°S, covering most populated land masses in both hemispheres. This mid-inclination band balances global coverage with efficient launch energy requirements. Italy operates approximately 88 active satellites in total.