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The exact height of a satellite in a Molniya orbit varies between missions, but a typical orbit will have a perigee altitude of approximately 600 kilometres (370 mi) and an apogee altitude of 39,700 kilometres (24,700 mi), for a semi-major axis of 26,600 kilometres (16,500 mi).
In the early 1960s, when Europe and America were establishing geostationary communication satellites, the Russians found these orbits unsuitable. [6] They were limited in the amount of rocket power available and it is extremely energy intensive to both launch a satellite to 40,000 km, and change its inclination to be over the equator, especially when launched from Russia.
Molniya orbit: A semi-synchronous variation of a Tundra orbit. For Earth this means an orbital period of just under 12 hours. Such a satellite spends most of its time over two designated areas of the planet. An inclination of 63.4° is normally used to keep the perigee shift small. [15]
A satellite with an orbital inclination between zero and ninety degrees is said to be in what is called a direct or prograde orbit, meaning that it orbits in the same direction as the planet's rotation. A satellite with an orbital inclination between 90° and 180° (or, equivalently, between 0° and −90°) is said to be in a retrograde orbit.
A highly elliptical orbit (HEO) is an elliptic orbit with high eccentricity, usually referring to one around Earth.Examples of inclined HEO orbits include Molniya orbits, named after the Molniya Soviet communication satellites which used them, and Tundra orbits.
Orbital. Sciences, Orbital ATK. 28.2 m 1180 370 750 to SSO: No 3 VAFB: 1994 2000 Taurus-2110 United States: Orbital. Sciences, Orbital ATK. 29.1 m 1250 375 900 to SSO: No 2 VAFB: 1999 2001 Taurus-2210 United States: Orbital. Sciences, Orbital ATK. 30.9 m 1050 700 to SSO: No 1 VAFB: 1998 1998 Taurus-3110 United States: Orbital. Sciences, Orbital ...
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 ...
where is the orbital inclination, is the eccentricity, is mean motion in degrees per day, is the perturbing factor, is the radius of the Earth, is the semimajor axis, and ˙ is in degrees per day. To avoid this expenditure of fuel, the Tundra orbit uses an inclination of 63.4°, for which the factor ( 4 − 5 sin 2 i ) {\displaystyle (4-5 ...