Artificial satellite orbit
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An artificial satellite orbit is a path that an artificial satellite makes around another object with sufficient mass to have a gravitational effect on it.
Most satellites in both equatorial and polar orbits fly at low altitudes between 100 and 1,000 miles (160 and 1,600 km).
Geostationary satellites, on the other hand, are in very high equatorial orbits 22,300 miles (35,800 km) above earth, which exactly matches the earth's rotation speed so that the satellite remains above a constant position on earth. To arrive at this orbit, the satellite is first launched to an orbit called geostationary transfer orbit, a highly elliptical orbit around the earth.
NASA provides real-time tracking of the over 500 artificial satellites maintained in orbit around Earth. For the position of these satellites see NASA satellite tracking.
You can also download free satellite tracking software to display real-time positions of any satellite in orbit around the earth, such as Satscape
