H-2A R/B

H-2A R/B is a spent rocket body associated with Japan, launched on 2015-11-24 from TNSTA on the Telstar 12V launch. After 11 years in orbit, it continues to be tracked by global surveillance networks. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 2,677 km and 35,668 km with an inclination of 19.4°. It travels at approximately 14,221 km/h (3.95 km/s), completing one full orbit every 11 hours 17 minutes — that’s roughly 2.13 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.6458 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. 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 19,173 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 H-2A R/B’s average altitude, there are currently 140 active payloads and 13 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include COSMOS 1414 (GLONASS), COSMOS 1490 (GLONASS), COSMOS 1492 (GLONASS). With an inclination of 19.4°, H-2A R/B passes over latitudes between 19.4°N and 19.4°S, concentrating coverage over equatorial and near-equatorial regions. Low-inclination orbits maximise revisit rates over specific tropical zones. Japan operates approximately 190 active satellites in total.