HIMAWARI 1 AKM

HIMAWARI 1 AKM is a spent rocket body associated with Japan, launched on 1977-07-14 from Cape Canaveral, Florida on the GMS launch. With over 49 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Geostationary Orbit (GEO) at altitudes between 34,388 km and 36,713 km with an inclination of 4.2°. It travels at approximately 11,101 km/h (3.08 km/s), completing one full orbit every 23 hours 44 minutes — that’s roughly 1.01 orbits per day. At geostationary altitude, there is no meaningful atmospheric drag — this object will remain in orbit indefinitely unless actively deorbited. Spent rocket bodies like HIMAWARI 1 AKM are among the largest pieces of uncontrolled space debris and are priority targets for collision avoidance manoeuvres and future active debris removal efforts.

HIMAWARI 1 AKM occupies geostationary orbit at approximately 35,786 km above the equator, where its orbital period matches the Earth’s 24-hour rotation. From the ground, it appears to hover over a fixed point — ideal for broadcast television, weather monitoring and wideband communications. With an inclination of 4.2°, it traces a small figure-of-eight pattern relative to the equator rather than remaining perfectly stationary, which can indicate aging stationkeeping fuel or a deliberate inclined-orbit strategy. Within ±50 km of HIMAWARI 1 AKM’s average altitude, there are currently 3 active payloads and 35 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. Japan operates approximately 190 active satellites in total.