DEBUT (ORIZURU)

DEBUT (ORIZURU) is an active satellite operated by Japan, launched on 1990-02-07 from TNSTA. With over 36 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 910 km and 1,741 km with an inclination of 99.1°. It travels at approximately 25,907 km/h (7.20 km/s), completing one full orbit every 112 minutes — that’s roughly 12.84 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is thousands of years. Orbital Radar tracks DEBUT (ORIZURU) in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

DEBUT (ORIZURU) orbits at an average altitude of 1,326 km in the uppermost reaches of Low Earth Orbit. At this altitude, orbital decay is effectively zero without active deorbiting, and coverage footprints are significantly larger than lower LEO, though at the cost of higher latency. Within ±50 km of DEBUT (ORIZURU)’s average altitude, there are currently 13 active payloads and 206 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 99.1°, DEBUT (ORIZURU) passes over latitudes between 99.1°N and 99.1°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 189 active satellites in total, of which 2 share a similar altitude band with DEBUT (ORIZURU).