StoriesPlace: Orbit
Low orbits are fast and crowded, high orbits slow and spacious. Every choice of altitude is a trade between delay, footprint and how long the satellite stays up; the arithmetic is two centuries old and the traffic rules are new12.
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01Map story
A broadband shell at 550 km, a sun-synchronous imaging orbit near 700 km, a navigation orbit at 20,200 km and the geostationary ring at 35,786 km. Each period follows from the altitude alone1.
Figure as text: Four orbit classes and their ground tracks
A wireframe globe with four orbits in red and their ground tracks: two low orbits, a medium orbit and the geostationary ring.
02Data story
From user to satellite to gateway, the signal travels at the speed of light over two slant ranges. At the edge of coverage, that alone takes milliseconds in low orbit and roughly a quarter of a second in geostationary orbit. These values are computed, not measured, and exclude processing and terrestrial routing3.
Figure as text: Bent-pipe propagation delay by orbit, at a 25° elevation mask
A bar chart of one-way user-to-gateway propagation delay at a 25 degree mask for five altitudes, rising from a few milliseconds in low orbit to about a quarter of a second in geostationary orbit.
| Orbit | One-way delay |
|---|---|
| LEO 550 km | 7.5 |
| LEO 1,200 km | 14.7 |
| MEO 8,063 km | 70.3 |
| MEO 20,200 km | 155.1 |
| GEO 35,786 km | 260.6 |
03Simulator
Raise the orbit and each satellite serves a wider circle, but the delay grows and the link budget worsens. Lower it and the opposite holds, and atmospheric drag shortens the satellite’s life, which the five-year deorbit rule now bounds in the United States2.
Figure as text: Footprint, delay and period by altitude
A section through the Earth with a satellite above it on a log altitude scale and its footprint arc in red.
| Altitude | 550 km |
|---|---|
| Elevation mask | 25 ° |
| Footprint radius | 940.5 km |
| Slant range at the mask | 1,123.3 km |
| One-way delay, nadir | 1.83 ms |
| Bent-pipe delay, user to gateway | 7.49 ms |
| Orbital period | 96 min |
04Timeline to 2030
The cellular standard added non-terrestrial access in 20224; the 2023 World Radiocommunication Conference updated the spectrum rules many constellations depend on5; the five-year rule sets a deadline for leaving low orbit after the mission ends2.
Figure as text: Rules and standards for the orbital commons
A timeline from 2020 to 2030 with the NTN study, the initial NTN release, the five-year rule and WRC-23.
Figure 1
Map story
Figure 1. Four orbit classes and their ground tracks. A wireframe globe with four orbits in red and their ground tracks: two low orbits, a medium orbit and the geostationary ring.
Space and satellite systemsConnectivityPositioning, navigation and timingEarth observation & GeoAITelecomGovernmentResearchField tour: orbit viewField tour: ground station
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