Low Orbit Satellite Height

Eccentricity refers to the shape of the orbit.

Low orbit satellite height. Objects below approximately 160 kilometers 99 mi will experience very rapid orbital decay and altitude loss. As the satellite moves the earth rotates underneath it. A low earth orbit leo is an orbit around earth with an altitude above earth s surface of 2 000 kilometers 1 200 mi and an orbital period between about 84 and 127 minutes. The relatively low altitude of satellites in this orbit offers some attractive perks for satellite manufacturers and hobbyists.

A satellite at this height takes 12 hours to complete an orbit. An eccentric orbit is elliptical with the satellite s distance from earth changing depending on where it is in its orbit. The satellites communicate with three testing ground stations in washington state and california for short term experiments of less than ten minutes duration roughly daily. The semi synchronous orbit is a near circular orbit low eccentricity 26 560 kilometers from the center of the earth about 20 200 kilometers above the surface.

This value decreases as the altitude increases. A low earth orbit leo is an earth centred orbit with an altitude of 2 000 km 1 200 mi or less approximately one third of the radius of earth or with at least 11 25 periods per day an orbital period of 128 minutes or less and an eccentricity less than 0 25. By stephanie mlot june 15 2020. The mean orbital velocity of any satellite that needs to reach an leo should be 7 5km s 27 000km h.

Objects in low earth orbit are at an altitude of between 160 to 2 000 km. Where all of our satellites reside and where the iss orbits the planet. Amazon plans to launch a constellation of 3 236 satellites into low earth orbit in order to provide internet to unserved and underserved communities around the world. This means the track of the satellite as seen from the central body will repeat exactly after a fixed number of orbits.

In addition to height eccentricity and inclination also shape a satellite s orbit. The satellites orbit in a circular low earth orbit at about 500 km 310 mi altitude in a high inclination orbit for a planned six to twelve month duration. In practice only 1 1 ratio geosynchronous and 1 2 ratios semi synchronous are common. Low earth orbit leo is a popular place.

Most of the manmade objects in outer space are in leo. The federal communications commission doesn t believe low earth orbit satellite providers can deliver internet service while keeping latency below 100ms.