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 significant distance away from Earth's equator, the carrier rocket often only launches the satellite into an orbit with a non-zero inclination approximately equal to the latitude of the launch site. This orbit is commonly known as a "geostationary transfer orbit" or a "geosynchronous transfer orbit". The satellite must then provide thrust to bring forth the needed delta v to reach a geostationary orbit. This is typically done with a fixed onboard apogee kick motor. When the satellite reaches its orbit's apogee position, the AKM is ignited, transforming the elliptical orbit into a circular orbit, while at the same time bringing