Kamooalewa orbits the Sun at a distance of 0.90–1.10
AU. Although the period as of 2022 is about 366 days, its longer-term average period is closer to 365 days. Kamooalewa is a quasi-moon and not gravitationally bound to Earth like a true satellite. Its orbit transfers between a
quasi satellite orbit type which resides in the and
Lagrange points, and a
horseshoe orbit between the and Lagrange points. Its orbit has an
eccentricity of 0.10 and an
inclination of 8
° with respect to the
ecliptic. Although it is too distant to be considered a true
natural satellite of Earth, it is the best and most stable example to date of a near-Earth companion, or
quasi-satellite. Orbital and Yarkovsky effect modeling suggest it will be stable for 0.3–0.5 million years. Paul Chodas, manager of
NASA's
Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in
Pasadena, California described the orbit of Kamooalewa as a quasi-satellite of Earth. Unlike asteroid , which previously followed a similar orbit, Kamooalewa is more stable and has been Earth's companion for more than a century and will remain so for much longer. This asteroid spends half of its orbit closer to the Sun than Earth and the other half farther away, causing it to oscillate above and below Earth's orbit annually. Its orbit experiences slight drifts that Earth's gravity corrects, keeping it between 38 and 100 times the distance of the Moon. Thus, Kamooalewa continually dances around the Earth. The closest Earth approach was on at . By late May 2369, the asteroid will be from Earth. The Earth-like orbit may be a result of it being lunar ejecta. Most objects in this kind of orbit are eventually perturbed out of being in an Earth-co-orbital state and hit the Earth, Venus, or the Sun or are ejected from the
Solar System, and Kamooalewa will probably hit the Earth in the next 100 million years. == Physical characteristics ==