High Earth orbit

A High Earth Orbit is a geocentric orbit whose apogee lies above that of a geosynchronous orbit (35,786 kilometres (22,236 mi)).[1]

Highly Elliptical Orbits are a subset of High Earth Orbits.[1]

Examples of satellites in High Earth Orbit

Name NSSDC ID Launch Date Perigee Apogee Period Inclination Eccentricity Highly Elliptical Orbit
Molniya 1-01[2] 1965-030A 1965-04-23 538 km 39,300 km 708.0 min 65.0° 0.736864 yes
Vela 1A[3][4] 1963-039A 1963-10-17 101,925 km 116,528 km 6,519.6 min 37.8° 0.063 no

References

  1. ^ a b Definitions of geocentric orbits from the Goddard Space Flight Center
  2. ^ Trajectory Details for Molniya 1-01 from the National Space Science Data Center
  3. ^ Vela at Encyclopedia Astronautica
  4. ^ Trajectory Details for Vela 1A from the National Space Science Data Center