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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.
The Japanese Space Agency, JAXA, launched its Super Low Altitude Test Satellite, or SLATS (“Tsubame”), in 2017, whose orbit slowly decreased from an initial altitude of 630 km (391 mi) to operate at seven different altitudes, from 271 km (168 mi) to a final altitude of 167.4 km (104.0 mi).
Instead, the lowest usable "'flight level'" is the transition level plus 500 ft. However, in some countries, such as Norway for example, [ 9 ] the transition level is determined by adding a buffer of minimum 1,000 ft (300 m) (depending on QNH) to the transition altitude.
The required altitude depends on the type of terrain, such as low vegetation or low buildings, tree canopy layer of less than 45 m (148 ft), presence of tall buildings or concrete pylons with heights of up to 25 m (82 ft) international standard, or emergent tree layer canopy and lattice steel electricity pylons to 100 m (330 ft) being present ...
Flight levels are usually designated in writing as FLxxx, where xxx is a two or three-digit number indicating the pressure altitude in units of 100 feet. In radio communications, FL290 (29,000 ft; 8,850 m) would be pronounced as "flight level two nine(r) zero."
A space elevator would consist of a cable anchored to the Earth's surface, reaching into space. A space elevator is a proposed type of space transportation system. [34] Its main component is a ribbon-like cable (also called a tether) anchored to the surface and extending into space above the level of geosynchronous orbit. As the planet rotates ...
Suborbital Flight: Suborbital spaceflight occurs when a spacecraft reaches space but its velocity is such that it cannot achieve orbit. Many people believe that in order to achieve spaceflight, a spacecraft must reach an altitude higher than 100 kilometers (62 miles) above sea level.
An orbital spaceflight (or orbital flight) is a spaceflight in which a spacecraft is placed on a trajectory where it could remain in space for at least one orbit. To do this around the Earth , it must be on a free trajectory which has an altitude at perigee (altitude at closest approach) around 80 kilometers (50 mi); this is the boundary of ...