AYAME 2 (ECS-2)

AYAME 2 (ECS-2) is an active satellite operated by Japan, launched on 1980-02-22 from TNSTA. With over 46 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 9,955 km and 35,355 km with an inclination of 9.6°. It travels at approximately 13,341 km/h (3.71 km/s), completing one full orbit every 13 hours 41 minutes — that’s roughly 1.75 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.4375 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. Orbital Radar tracks AYAME 2 (ECS-2) in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

AYAME 2 (ECS-2) orbits at an average altitude of 22,655 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 AYAME 2 (ECS-2)’s average altitude, there are currently 1 active payload and 6 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 9.6°, AYAME 2 (ECS-2) passes over latitudes between 9.6°N and 9.6°S, concentrating coverage over equatorial and near-equatorial regions. Low-inclination orbits maximise revisit rates over specific tropical zones. Japan operates approximately 189 active satellites in total.