This was the apogee of his reign.
After the satellite reached the apogee, it continued in orbit, becoming closer to the center of Earth.
Some people may argue that the apogee of human intelligence was when humans were not so reliant on technology.
The small town reached its apogee when the new steel mill opened.
Then, by an obvious law of kinematics, the angular motion round the earth would be most rapid at the point nearest the earth, that is at perigee, and slowest at the point most distant from the earth, that is at apogee.