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In gravitationally bound systems, the orbital speed of an astronomical body or object (e.g. planet, moon, artificial satellite, spacecraft, or star) is the speed at which it orbits around either the barycenter (the combined center of mass) or, if one body is much more massive than the other bodies of the system combined, its speed relative to the center of mass of the most massive body.
This equates to an orbital speed of 3.07 kilometres per second (1.91 miles per second) and an orbital period of 1,436 minutes, one sidereal day. This ensures that the satellite will match the Earth's rotational period and has a stationary footprint on the ground. All geostationary satellites have to be located on this ring.
A wide variety of sources [5] [6] [7] define LEO in terms of altitude.The altitude of an object in an elliptic orbit can vary significantly along the orbit. Even for circular orbits, the altitude above ground can vary by as much as 30 km (19 mi) (especially for polar orbits) due to the oblateness of Earth's spheroid figure and local topography.
A satellite orbiting Earth has a tangential velocity and an inward acceleration. Part of a series on: ... is the speed of the orbiting body. In other words, the speed ...
A geostationary equatorial orbit (GEO) is a circular geosynchronous orbit in the plane of the Earth's equator with a radius of approximately 42,164 km (26,199 mi) (measured from the center of the Earth). [21]: 156 A satellite in such an orbit is at an altitude of approximately 35,786 km (22,236 mi) above mean sea level. It maintains the same ...
A geocentric orbit, Earth-centered orbit, or Earth orbit involves any object orbiting Earth, such as the Moon or artificial satellites. In 1997, NASA estimated there were approximately 2,465 artificial satellite payloads orbiting Earth and 6,216 pieces of space debris as tracked by the Goddard Space Flight Center . [ 1 ]
Clickable image, highlighting medium altitude orbits around Earth, [a] from Low Earth to the lowest High Earth orbit (geostationary orbit and its graveyard orbit, at one ninth of the Moon's orbital distance), [b] with the Van Allen radiation belts and the Earth to scale To-scale diagram of low, medium, and high Earth orbits Space of Medium Earth orbits (MEO) as pink area, with Earth and the ...
In 2009 governments started showing interest in VLEO satellites, such as the European Space Agency's scientific satellite "Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explore" [1] (GOCE), [2] designed to take accurate measurements of Earth's gravitational field. It demonstrated a sustained orbit of between 250 and 300 km (155-186 mi ) for ...