Earth orbits Earth orbits Earth orbit is an orbit around the planet Earth. The Moon, Earth's only natural satellite, is in Earth orbit. Artificial satellites are launched into Earth orbit, and spacecraft bound for other locations in the solar system usually begin their missions by first attaining Earth orbit, before altering course to another planet, moon, or heliocentric (solar) orbit. ...more on Wikipedia about "Earth orbit"
A geostationary orbit (abbreviated GEO) is a circular orbit directly above the Earth's equator (0º latitude). Any point on the equator plane revolves about the Earth in the same direction and with the same period as the Earth's rotation. It is a special case of the geosynchronous orbit (abbreviated GSO), and the one which is of most interest to operators of artificial satellites (including communication and television satellites). Satellite locations may differ by longitude only (remember in geostationary orbit latitude is zero). ...more on Wikipedia about "Geostationary orbit"
The geostationary ring is a volume segment around the geostationary orbit defined by variations in altitude and declination that can occur for uncontrolled objects left in the geostationary orbit. ...more on Wikipedia about "Geostationary ring"
A geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) is a Hohmann transfer orbit around the Earth between a low Earth orbit (LEO) and a geostationary orbit (GEO). It is an ellipse where the perigee is a point on a LEO and the apogee has the same distance from the Earth as the GEO. ...more on Wikipedia about "Geostationary transfer orbit"
A geosynchronous orbit is a geocentric orbit that has the same orbital period as the sidereal rotation period of the Earth. It has a semi-major axis of 42,164 km ** . ...more on Wikipedia about "Geosynchronous orbit"
Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO) (often referred to as the Molniya orbit, after the former Soviet communications satellite network which used such an orbit) is a satellite orbit characterized by a relatively low-altitude perigee and an extremely high-altitude apogee. This extremely elongated orbit has the advantage of long dwell times (often exceeding twelve hours of dwell with a one-hour perigee phase) during the approach and descent from apogee while offering visibility over the polar regions, which most geosynchronous satellites lack. Along with the aforementioned geosynchronous orbit, highly elliptical orbit is used extensively by communications satellites. ...more on Wikipedia about "High Earth orbit"
Intermediate circular orbit (ICO), also called medium earth orbit (MEO), is used by satellites between the altitudes of low earth orbit (up to 1400 km) and geosynchronous orbit (35,790 km). ...more on Wikipedia about "Intermediate circular orbit" Good to know http://www.shortopedia.com.
The Lagrangian points ( IPA: ; also Lagrange point, L-point, or libration point), are the five positions in interplanetary space where a small object affected only by gravity can be stationary relative to two larger objects (such as a satellite with respect to the Earth and Moon). They are analogous to geosynchronous orbits in that they allow an object to be in a "fixed" position in space rather than an orbit in which its relative position changes continuously. ...more on Wikipedia about "Lagrangian point"
A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth between the atmosphere and the Van Allen radiation belt, with a low angle of inclination. These boundaries are not firmly defined but are typically around 200 - 1200 km (124 - 726 miles) above the Earth's surface. This is generally below intermediate circular orbit (ICO) and far below geostationary orbit. Orbits lower than this are not stable and will decay rapidly because of atmospheric drag. Orbits higher than this are subject to early electronic failure because of intense radiation and charge accumulation. Orbits with a higher inclination angle are usually called polar orbits. ...more on Wikipedia about "Low Earth orbit"
Molniya orbit is a class of a highly elliptic orbit with inclination of 63.4° and orbital period of about 12 hours for which perturbations in argument of perigee are zero. A satellite placed in this orbit spends most of its time over a designated area of the earth, a phenomenon known as apogee dwell. Molniya orbits are named after a series of Soviet/Russian Molniya communications satellites that have been using this class of orbits since the mid 1960s. Molniya orbits are not limited to Earth orbits only as they can be computed for any celestial body for which secular variations in longitude of the ascending node and argument of perigee because of central body’s oblateness have dominant effects on bodies orbiting it. ...more on Wikipedia about "Molniya orbit"
In astrodynamics or celestial dynamics orbital state vectors (sometimes State Vectors) are vectors of position () and velocity () that together with their time () ( epoch) uniquely determine the state of an orbiting body. ...more on Wikipedia about "Orbital state vectors"
A satellite in a polar orbit passes above or nearly above both poles of the planet (or other celestial body) on each revolution. It therefore has an inclination of (or very close to) 90 degrees to the equator. ...more on Wikipedia about "Polar orbit"
A polar sun synchronous orbit is a nearly polar orbit. Every time it crosses the Equator, it does it at the same local time (e.g. dawn or dusk). ...more on Wikipedia about "Polar Sun Synchronous Orbit"
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