Space technology company HEO has captured a detailed photograph of a spent Japanese H-IIA rocket stage directly from orbit during an approach with another spacecraft. The photo was taken from a distance of about 12 kilometers with a resolution of approximately 5 centimeters per pixel.
To create such photos, HEO uses Non-Earth Imaging technology to photograph satellites, rocket stages, and other objects directly from orbit. This approach allows obtaining significantly higher quality images and evaluating not only the appearance but also the behavior of objects in space.
The photo captures the body of the H-IIA stage remaining in orbit. According to HEO, such elongated objects can be in a state of gravity-gradient stabilization, where differences in Earth's gravitational pull on different parts of the stage gradually align its orientation in a specific way relative to the planet.
Orbital debris monitoring
Actual observation allows verifying how much the behavior of a spent stage matches calculated models. The photos make it possible to evaluate the rotation and orientation of the object and track changes in its condition.
Such data is especially important for monitoring space debris and assessing potentially dangerous close approaches. The more accurately operators understand how uncontrolled objects behave in orbit, the better they can predict their movement and risks to active satellites. HEO has shown space debris with very high detail, allowing spent rocket stages to be studied directly in space rather than viewed only as dots on radar.
