Medium Earth Orbit

Information about Medium Earth Orbit

Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), sometimes called Intermediate Circular Orbit (ICO), is the region of space around the Earth above low Earth orbit (2,000 kilometres (1243 mi)) and below geostationary orbit (35,786 kilometres (22236 mi)).^[1]

The most common use for satellites in this region is for navigation, such as the GPS (20,200 kilometres (12552 mi)), Glonass (19,100 kilometres (11868 mi)) and Galileo (23,222 kilometres (14429 mi)) constellations. Communications satellites that cover the North and South Pole are also put in MEO.^[2]

The orbital periods of MEO satellites range from about two to 12 hours.^[3] Telstar, one of the first and most famous experimental satellites, orbited in MEO.^[4]

Notes

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ [2]
3. ^ [3]
4. ^ [4]

• • [ e] Orbits
Orbit types	Box orbit • Circular orbit • Ecliptic orbit • Elliptic orbit • Highly Elliptical Orbit • Graveyard orbit • Hyperbolic trajectory • Inclined orbit • Osculating orbit • Parabolic trajectory • Capture orbit • Escape orbit • Semi-synchronous orbit • Subsynchronous orbit • Synchronous orbit • Parking orbit
Earth-centered orbits	Geosynchronous orbit • Geostationary orbit • Sun-synchronous orbit • Low Earth orbit • Medium Earth Orbit • Molniya orbit • Near equatorial orbit • Orbit of the Moon • Polar orbit • Tundra orbit
Other orbits	Areosynchronous orbit • Areostationary orbit • Halo orbit • Lissajous orbit • Lunar orbit • Heliocentric orbit • Heliosynchronous orbit
Orbital elements	Inclination ( $\text{[math]}$ ) • Longitude of the ascending node ( $\text{[math]}$ ) • Eccentricity ( $\text{[math]}$ ) • Argument of periapsis ( $\text{[math]}$ ) • Semi-major axis ( $\text{[math]}$ ) • Mean anomaly at epoch ( $\text{[math]}$ )
Other orbital parameters	True anomaly ( $\text{[math]}$ ) • Semi-minor axis ( $\text{[math]}$ ) • Linear eccentricity ( $\text{[math]}$ ) • Eccentric anomaly ( $\text{[math]}$ ) • Mean longitude ( $\text{[math]}$ ) • True longitude ( $\text{[math]}$ ) • Orbital period ( $\text{[math]}$ )
Orbital maneuvers	Bi-elliptic transfer • Geostationary transfer orbit • Gravitational slingshot • Hohmann transfer orbit • Orbital inclination change • Orbit phasing • Space rendezvous
Other orbital mechanics topics	Apsis • Celestial coordinate system • Delta-v budget • Epoch • Ephemeris • Equatorial coordinate system • Gravity turn • Ground track • Interplanetary Transport Network • Kepler's laws of planetary motion • Lagrangian point • List of orbits • n-body problem • Orbit equation • Orbital state vectors • Perturbation • Retrograde and direct motion • Specific orbital energy • Specific relative angular momentum • The Oberth effect

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is generally defined as an orbit within the locus extending from the Earth’s surface up to an altitude of 2,000 km. Given the rapid orbital decay of objects below approximately 200 km, the commonly accepted definition for LEO is between 200 - 2000 km
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A geostationary orbit (GEO) is a geosynchronous orbit directly above the Earth's equator (0° latitude), with orbital eccentricity of zero. From the ground, a geostationary object appears motionless in the sky and is therefore the orbit of most interest to operators
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satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavor. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon.
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Global Positioning System (GPS) is the only fully functional Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). Utilizing a constellation of at least 24 medium Earth orbit satellites that transmit precise microwave signals, the system enables a GPS receiver to determine its
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GLONASS (Russian: ГЛОНАСС - ГЛОбальная НАвигационная
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This article contains information about a scheduled or expected .
It may contain preliminary information that does not reflect the final version of the product.

The Galileo positioning system
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The orbital period is the time taken for a planet (or another object) to make one complete orbit.

When mentioned without further qualification in astronomy this refers to the sidereal period of an astronomical object, which is calculated with respect to the stars.
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Telstar was the first active communications satellite (launched in 1962), and the first satellite designed to transmit telephone and high-speed data communications. Its name is used to this day for a number of television broadcasting satellites.
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The following is a list of types of orbits:

By orbital characteristics

Box orbit
Circular orbit
Ecliptic orbit
Elliptic orbit
Highly Elliptical Orbit
Graveyard orbit
Hohmann transfer orbit

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Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO) is an elliptic orbit characterized by a relatively low-altitude perigee and an extremely high-altitude apogee. These extremely elongated orbits can have the advantage of long dwell times at a point in the sky during the approach to and descent from
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A geosynchronous orbit is an orbit around the Earth with an orbital period matching the Earth's sidereal rotation period. This synchronization means that for an observer at a fixed location on Earth, a satellite in a geosynchronous orbit returns to exactly the same place in the sky
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ORBit is a CORBA compliant Object Request Broker (ORB). The current version is called ORBit2 and is compliant with CORBA version 2.4. It is developed under the GPL license and is used as middleware for the GNOME project.
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In stellar dynamics a box orbit refers to a particular type of orbit which can be seen in triaxial systems, that is, systems which do not possess a symmetry around any of its axes.
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For other meanings of the term "orbit", see orbit (disambiguation)

In astrodynamics or celestial mechanics a circular orbit is an elliptic orbit with the eccentricity equal to 0.
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A non-inclined orbit is an orbit which is contained in the plane of reference. It therefore has inclination equal to zero. If the plane of reference is the equator, these orbits are called equatorial; if the plane of reference is the ecliptic, they are called ecliptic.
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elliptic orbit can be computed from the Vis-viva equation as:

where:

is standard gravitational parameter,
is radial distance of orbiting body from central body,
is length of semi-major axis.

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A graveyard orbit, also called a supersynchronous orbit, junk orbit or disposal orbit, is an orbit significantly above synchronous orbit where spacecraft are intentionally placed at the end of their operational life.
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In astrodynamics or celestial mechanics a hyperbolic trajectory is an orbit with the eccentricity greater than 1. Under standard assumptions a body traveling along this trajectory will coast to infinity, arriving there with hyperbolic excess velocity relative to the central body.
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A satellite is said to occupy an inclined orbit around the Earth if the orbit exhibits an angle other than zero degrees with the equatorial plane. This angle is called the orbit's inclination.
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In astronomy, and in particular in astrodynamics, the osculating orbit of an object in space is the gravitational Keplerian orbit about a central body that it would have if other perturbations were not present.
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In astrodynamics or celestial mechanics a parabolic trajectory is an orbit with the eccentricity equal to 1. When moving away from the source it is called an escape orbit, otherwise a capture orbit.
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A capture orbit is a reverse escape orbit. It is a parabolic orbit with as special case a straight line in the direction of the center of the central body. If it intersects the central body or its atmosphere the object will crash into the central body or there will be atmospheric
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An escape orbit (also known as C3 = 0 orbit) is a high-energy parabolic orbit around the central body. A body in this orbit has at each position the escape velocity with respect to this central body, for this position.
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Semi-Synchronous Orbit (SSO): An orbit with approximately a 12-hour period. A circular SSO is at an altitude of approximately 20,200 km.^[1]

References

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A subsynchronous orbit refers to the orbit of a satellite that is nearer the planet than it would be if it were in synchronous orbit, i.e. the orbital period is less than the sidereal day of the planet.
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A synchronous orbit is an orbit in which an orbiting body (usually a satellite) has a period equal to the average rotational period of the body being orbited (usually a planet), and in the same direction of rotation as that body.
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A parking orbit is a temporary orbit used during the launch of a satellite or other space probe. A launch vehicle boosts into the parking orbit, then coasts for a while, then fires again to enter the final desired trajectory.
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Medium Earth Orbit

Information about Medium Earth Orbit

See also

Notes

By orbital characteristics

See also

References