Without a telescope
BarelyOnly on its best passes and from a dark site: magnitude +5.3 at its best, at the limit of the naked eye. Binoculars make it easy.
Satellites›Brightest satellites›Ajisai
Ajisai
Ajisai is a satellite from Japan, launched on August 12, 1986 from Tanegashima, Japan. It is in a low orbit, 1,488 km above the ground, and goes around the Earth every 115.7 minutes: 12.4 times a day, at 7.12 km/s (25,600 km/h).
Where Ajisai is right now
The gold ring is its orbit, and the line drops to the point on the ground under it. Inside the white circle it is above the horizon. Drag the globe to turn it, pinch or use the buttons to come closer; the target button brings you back to the satellite. The 2D map shows its path over the ground for the next lap: gold where it is in sunlight, dashed where it is in Earth’s shadow.
Finding Ajisai…
Ajisai
Finding Ajisai…
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About Ajisai
A Japanese satellite launched in August 1986 that is nothing but a ball of mirrors: a sphere a little over two metres across, covered with 318 mirrors and more than a thousand laser reflectors. Surveyors bounce lasers off it to measure the Earth. It spins, so through binoculars it sparkles with quick flashes of sunlight.
Can you see it?
From where
It passes straight overhead only between latitudes 50° north and 50° south, and rises above the horizon as far as about 85°. Nearer the poles than that it is never in the sky.
A satellite shows only when your sky is dark and it is still in sunlight: in the hours after dusk and before dawn.
When it passes over you
The app works out its passes over your exact location, alerts you before one, and leads you to it with an arrow in the camera view.
The facts
- Catalogue number (NORAD)
- 16908
- International designator
- 1986-061A
- Name in the catalogue
- AJISAI (EGS)
- Type
- Satellite
- Belongs to
- Japan
- Launched
- August 12, 1986
- Launched from
- Tanegashima, Japan
- Status
- Operational
- Orbit
- Low Earth orbit
- Lowest point
- 1,479 km
- Highest point
- 1,496 km
- Tilt to the equator
- 50.0°
- One lap
- 115.7 minutes
- Laps a day
- 12.45
- Speed
- 7.12 km/s
- At its brightest
- mag +5.3 estimated, overhead
- Standard brightness
- mag +4.5 from 1,000 km, half lit
- Size on radar
- 4.2 m²
Orbit measured November 12, 2026, from CelesTrak. Heights are above the ground at the equator. Page updated November 14, 2026.
Quick answers
Where is Ajisai right now?
The map on this page shows where Ajisai is at this moment, the path it will follow over the ground for the next lap, and the part of the Earth it is above the horizon for. It is worked out from the latest tracking data.
How high is Ajisai?
About 1,488 km above the ground.
How fast does Ajisai go?
About 7.12 km/s, which is 25,600 km/h. One lap of the Earth takes it 115.7 minutes, so it goes around 12.4 times a day.
Can you see Ajisai without a telescope?
Barely. Only on its best passes and from a dark site: magnitude +5.3 at its best, at the limit of the naked eye. Binoculars make it easy.
When was Ajisai launched?
On August 12, 1986, from Tanegashima, Japan.
With the app
Knowing where it is over the Earth is one thing. The app shows you where it is in your sky.
This page follows the satellite around the planet. The app works out when it passes over you, and leads you to it.
- Every pass over your exact location, for this satellite and 10,000+ more.
- An alert before it rises, so you are outside in time.
- An arrow in the camera view that leads you to the exact spot in the sky.
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