GOES 3 AKM

GOES 3 AKM is a spent rocket body associated with United States, launched on 1978-06-16 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. With over 48 years in orbit, it has far exceeded many satellites’ design lifetimes. It orbits in Geostationary Orbit (GEO) at altitudes between 35,566 km and 36,457 km with an inclination of 6.5°. It travels at approximately 11,040 km/h (3.07 km/s), completing one full orbit every ~24 hours (geosynchronous) — that’s roughly 0.99 orbits per day. It is part of the Goes constellation group. At geostationary altitude, there is no meaningful atmospheric drag — this object will remain in orbit indefinitely unless actively deorbited. Spent rocket bodies like GOES 3 AKM are among the largest pieces of uncontrolled space debris and are priority targets for collision avoidance manoeuvres and future active debris removal efforts.

GOES 3 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 6.5°, 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 GOES 3 AKM’s average altitude, there are currently 61 active payloads and 30 tracked debris or rocket body fragments. United States operates approximately 12,339 active satellites in total, of which 15 share a similar altitude band with GOES 3 AKM.