Table of Contents
- 1 What keeps satellites from falling to the Earth?
- 2 Why do satellites need to be high above the Earth?
- 3 How does a satellite stay in one place?
- 4 Is gravity needed to keep a satellite in its orbit?
- 5 What forces keep a satellite in its orbit?
- 6 Where do satellites spend most of their time on circular orbits?
- 7 What is the purpose of satellites?
What keeps satellites from falling to the Earth?
The Short Answer: Gravity—combined with the satellite’s momentum from its launch into space—cause the satellite to go into orbit above Earth, instead of falling back down to the ground.
Why do satellites need to be high above the Earth?
Satellites need to be placed in orbit high above the Earth’s atmosphere so that the drag of the atmospheric gases doesn’t make the orbiting satellite slow down.
What is a satellite that stays above the same point?
A geosynchronous satellite is one that stays above the same point on the equator of the Earth.
How does a satellite stay in one place?
Because the satellite orbits at the same speed that the Earth is turning, the satellite seems to stay in place over a single longitude, though it may drift north to south. Satellites in geostationary orbit rotate with the Earth directly above the equator, continuously staying above the same spot.
Is gravity needed to keep a satellite in its orbit?
If the satellite is sent out into its orbit too slowly, it will fall to Earth. If it is sent out too quickly, the gravitational force will not be big enough to hold the satellite in orbit and it will fly off into space. Nothing keeps the satellite up .
What is a LEO satellite?
Low earth orbit (LEO) is a designation for communication satellites whose locus extends from approximately 300 miles above the earth’s surface up to an altitude of 1,491 miles. A non-terrestrial network (NTN) of LEO satellites is called a constellation or swarm.
What forces keep a satellite in its orbit?
Gravitational attraction provides the centripetal force needed to keep a planet in orbit around the Sun, and a satellite in orbit around a planet.
Where do satellites spend most of their time on circular orbits?
For circular orbits, θ increases linearly with time. Formula (4), as well as formula (6) below, are special cases of Napier’s rules for right spherical triangles, with the right angle being on the equator between latitude and longitude. A satellite spends much of its time near the extreme latitudes ±I.
What is a satellite’s latitude?
A satellite’s latitude (ψ) is the latitude of the point directly beneath the satellite on Earth. This latitude will never exceed I in absolute magnitude, and is determined by the anomaly θ according to sinψ=sinθsinI . (4) The anomaly θ is an angular measure of the satellite’s progress in moving around its orbit.
What is the purpose of satellites?
The purpose of many satellites is to observe or communicate with points on Earth’s surface. Such functions require a line of sight that is neither too long nor too oblique, so only a certain segment of Earth will be covered by a satellite at any given time.