The repeated references to the Soviet satellite Sputnik in the novel are a motif that reflects the theme of Personal Growth Due to Unrequited Desire. As Sumire evaluates her unrequited desire for Miu, she creates a connection between her own feelings and experiences and those of Sputnik: “Sometimes I feel so—I don’t know—lonely. The kind of helpless feeling when everything you’re used to has been ripped away. Like there’s no gravity, and I’m left to drift in outer space. With no idea where I’m headed” (63). The suddenness of her desire for Miu, almost instantaneous, changes her life, and she feels as though she is launched into space like Sputnik, banished from the life she knew. Sumire’s loneliness, a result of her unrequited desire for Miu, is one she associates with the satellite, floating in space, disconnected and alone. She feels unmoored and lost, on a course she cannot control, led by her desire. For much of the novel, her desire for Miu leads her forward with no clear destination in sight, just orbiting around the object of her desire.

When Sumire first mentions the satellite idea to K, he finds it odd, but over time, he sees a connection between it and his own relationship with Sumire. K takes this reference and deepens it through his research into the actual Sputnik satellite: “Do you know what ‘Sputnik’ means in Russian? ‘Traveling companion.’ I looked it up in a dictionary not long ago. Kind of a strange coincidence if you think about it. I wonder why the Russians gave their satellite that strange name” (98). The word gives K another way to look at his relationship with Sumire, and he begins to think of the two of them as companions traveling through life. On another level, just as Sputnik drifted through space, alone, so too does K feel unmoored. And yet, satellites occasionally pass close to each other. K feels as though he, Sumire, and Miu are all traveling companions on their own journeys, and yet, their unconnected desires often draw them close together, creating these brief moments they share, as though they are satellites passing in orbit. As a result of this metaphor, K is able to understand his own unrequited desire for Sumire from a new angle, leading to his growth as a character.