Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A computer-generated image of space debris. Two debris fields are shown: around geosynchronous space and low Earth orbit. Geosynchronous satellites require some station-keeping in order to remain in position, and once they run out of thruster fuel and are no longer useful they are moved into a higher graveyard orbit. It is not feasible to ...
Geostationary satellites are launched via a temporary orbit, and then placed in a "slot" above a particular point on the Earth's surface. The satellite requires periodic station-keeping to maintain its position. Modern retired geostationary satellites are placed in a higher graveyard orbit to avoid collisions.
An observer at any place where the satellite is visible will always see it in exactly the same spot in the sky, unlike stars and planets that move continuously. Geostationary satellites appear to be fixed over one spot above the equator. Receiving and transmitting antennas on the earth do not need to track such a satellite. These antennas can ...
Around the Earth, stationary satellites orbit at altitudes of approximately 22,300 miles (35,900 km). [1] Writing in 1945, the science-fiction author Arthur C. Clarke imagined communications satellites as travelling in stationary orbits, where those satellites would travel around the Earth at the same speed the globe is spinning, making them ...
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.
This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 23 February 2025. Objects intentionally placed into orbit This article is about human-made satellites. For moons, see Natural satellite. For other uses, see Satellite (disambiguation). Two CubeSats orbiting around Earth after being deployed from the ISS KibÅ module's Small Satellite Orbital Deployer A ...
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.
For Earth this means a period of just under 12 hours at an altitude of approximately 20,200 km (12,544.2 miles) if the orbit is circular. [16] 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 ...