H-2A R/B

H-2A R/B is a spent rocket body associated with Japan, launched on 2012-05-17 from TNSTA on the GCOM-W1 launch. After 14 years in orbit, it continues to be tracked by global surveillance networks. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 550 km and 610 km with an inclination of 98.5°. It travels at approximately 27,261 km/h (7.57 km/s), completing one full orbit every 96 minutes — that’s roughly 14.96 orbits per day. Its near-polar, sun-synchronous orbit means it passes over any given point on Earth at approximately the same local solar time, ideal for consistent Earth observation lighting conditions. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~3–10 years. Spent rocket bodies like H-2A 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.

H-2A R/B orbits at an average altitude of 580 km in a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), a specialised subset of LEO where the orbital plane precesses to maintain a constant angle relative to the Sun. This provides consistent lighting conditions on every pass — essential for Earth observation, weather monitoring and environmental science. Within ±50 km of H-2A R/B’s average altitude, there are currently 3,131 active payloads and 542 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include ONEWEB-0050, STARLINK-3005, STARLINK-3090. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 17.9% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 98.5°, H-2A R/B passes over latitudes between 98.5°N and 98.5°S, providing near-global coverage including the polar regions. Polar and near-polar orbits are used for reconnaissance, weather monitoring and Earth-observation missions that need to image every part of the planet. Japan operates approximately 190 active satellites in total, of which 40 share a similar altitude band with H-2A R/B.