Apogee kick motor possible. The mass of most geostationary satellites at the beginning of its operational life in geostationary orbit is roughly half that when it separated from its vehicle in geostationary transfer orbit, with the other half having been fuel expended in the apogee kick maneuver. Apogee kick motor An apogee kick motor (AKM) refers to a rocket motor that is regularly employed on artificial satellites to provide the final impulse to change the trajectory from the transfer orbit into its final (most commonly circular) orbit. For a satellite launched from the Earth, the rocket firing is done at the highest point
Apogee kick motor the inclination to around zero degrees, thereby accomplishing the insertion into a geostationary orbit. This process is called an "apogee kick". More generally, firing a rocket engine to place a vehicle into the desired final orbit from a transfer orbit is labelled an "orbital insertion burn," or (for cases where the desired orbit is circular) a "circularization burn." For orbits around bodies other than Earth, it may be referred to as an "apoapsis" burn. The amount of fuel carried on board a satellite directly affects its lifetime, therefore it is desirable to make the apogee kick maneuver as efficient as