Low Earth orbit

A **low Earth orbit** (**LEO**) is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, with an altitude never more than about one-third of the radius of Earth.

The term *LEO region* is also used for the area of space below an altitude of Template:Cvt (about one-third of Earth's radius). Objects in orbits that pass through this zone, even if they have an apogee further out or are sub-orbital, are carefully tracked since they present a collision risk to the many LEO satellites.

All crewed space stations to date have been within LEO. From 1968 to 1972, the Apollo program's lunar missions sent humans beyond LEO. Since the end of the Apollo program, no human spaceflights have been beyond LEO.

## Defining characteristics

A wide variety of sources define LEO in terms of altitude. The altitude of an object in an elliptic orbit can vary significantly along the orbit. Even for circular orbits, the altitude above ground can vary by as much as Template:Cvt (especially for polar orbits) due to the oblateness of Earth's spheroid figure and local topography. While definitions based on altitude are inherently ambiguous, most of them fall within the range specified by an orbit period of 128 minutes because, according to Kepler's third law, this corresponds to a semi-major axis of Template:Cvt. For circular orbits, this in turn corresponds to an altitude of Template:Cvt above the mean radius of Earth, which is consistent with some of the upper altitude limits in some LEO definitions.

The LEO region is defined by some sources as a region in space that LEO orbits occupy. Some highly elliptical orbits may pass through the LEO region near their lowest altitude (or perigee) but are not in an LEO orbit because their highest altitude (or apogee) exceeds Template:Cvt. Sub-orbital objects can also reach the LEO region but are not in an LEO orbit because they re-enter the atmosphere. The distinction between LEO orbits and the LEO region is especially important for analysis of possible collisions between objects which may not themselves be in LEO but could collide with satellites or debris in LEO orbits.

File:Orbitalaltitudes.svg
## Orbital characteristics

The mean orbital velocity needed to maintain a stable low Earth orbit is about Template:Convert, which translates to Template:Convert. However, this depends on the exact altitude of the orbit. Calculated for a circular orbit of Template:Convert the orbital velocity is Template:Convert, but for a higher Template:Convert orbit the velocity is reduced to Template:Convert. The launch vehicle's delta-v needed to achieve low Earth orbit starts around Template:Convert.

The pull of gravity in LEO is only slightly less than on the Earth's surface. This is because the distance to LEO from the Earth's surface is much less than the Earth's radius. However, an object in orbit is in a permanent free fall around Earth, because in orbit both, the gravitational force and the centrifugal force balance out each other.Template:Efn As a result, spacecrafts in orbit continue to stay in orbit, and people inside or outside such crafts continuously experience weightlessness.

Objects in LEO encounter atmospheric drag from gases in the thermosphere (approximately 80–600 km above the surface) or exosphere (approximately Template:Cvt and higher), depending on orbit height. Orbits of satellites that reach altitudes below Template:Cvt decay fast due to atmospheric drag. Objects in LEO orbit Earth between the denser part of the atmosphere and below the inner Van Allen radiation belt.

Equatorial low Earth orbits (**ELEO**) are a subset of LEO. These orbits, with low inclination to the Equator, allow rapid revisit times of low-latitude places on Earth and have the lowest delta-v requirement (i.e., fuel spent) of any orbit, provided they have the direct (not retrograde) orientation with respect to the Earth's rotation. Orbits with a very high inclination angle to the equator are usually called polar orbits or Sun-synchronous orbits.

Higher orbits include medium Earth orbit (MEO), sometimes called intermediate circular orbit (ICO), and further above, geostationary orbit (GEO). Orbits higher than low orbit can lead to early failure of electronic components due to intense radiation and charge accumulation.

In 2017, "very low Earth orbits" (**VLEO**) began to be seen in regulatory filings. These orbits, below about Template:Cvt, require the use of novel technologies for orbit raising because they operate in orbits that would ordinarily decay too soon to be economically useful.

## Use

 File:Sunrise To Sunset Aboard The ISS.OGG  A low Earth orbit requires the lowest amount of energy for satellite placement. It provides high bandwidth and low communication latency. Satellites and space stations in LEO are more accessible for crew and servicing.

Since it requires less energy to place a satellite into a LEO, and a satellite there needs less powerful amplifiers for successful transmission, LEO is used for many communication applications, such as the Iridium phone system. Some communication satellites use much higher geostationary orbits and move at the same angular velocity as the Earth as to appear stationary above one location on the planet.

### Disadvantages

Unlike geosynchronous satellite, satellites in LEO have a small field of view and so can observe and communicate with only a fraction of the Earth at a time. That means that a network (or "constellation") of satellites is required to provide continuous coverage. Satellites in lower regions of LEO also suffer from fast orbital decay and require either periodic re-boosting to maintain a stable orbit or launching replacement satellites when old ones re-enter.

### Examples

* The International Space Station is in a LEO about Template:Convert to Template:Convert above Earth's surface, and needs re-boosting a few times a year due to orbital decay.
* The Iridium telecom satellites orbit at about Template:Convert.
* Earth observation satellites, also known as remote sensing satellites, including spy satellites and other Earth imaging satellites, use LEO as they are able to see the surface of the Earth more clearly by being closer to it. A majority of artificial satellites are placed in LEO. Satellites can also take advantage of consistent lighting of the surface below via Sun-synchronous LEO orbits at an altitude of about Template:Convert and near polar inclination. Envisat (2002–2012) is one example.
* The Hubble Space Telescope orbits at about Template:Convert above Earth.
* The Chinese Tiangong space station was launched in April of 2021 and currently orbits between about Template:Convert and Template:Convert.

In fiction
* In the film *2001: A Space Odyssey*, Earth's transit station ("Space Station V") "orbited 300 km above Earth."

#### Former

* The Chinese Tiangong-1 station was in orbit at about Template:Convert, until its de-orbiting in 2018.
* The Chinese Tiangong-2 station was in orbit at about Template:Convert, until its de-orbiting in 2019.
* Gravimetry missions such as GOCE orbited at about Template:Convert to measure Earth's gravity field at highest sensitivity. The mission lifetime was limited because of atmospheric drag. GRACE and GRACE-FO were orbiting at about Template:Convert.

## Space debris

The LEO environment is becoming congested with space debris because of the frequency of object launches. This has caused growing concern in recent years, since collisions at orbital velocities can be dangerous or deadly. Collisions can produce additional space debris, creating a domino effect known as Kessler syndrome. The Orbital Debris Program, part of NASA, tracks over 25,000 objects larger than 10 cm in LEO, the estimated number between 1 and 10 cm in diameter is 500,000. The amount of particles bigger than 1 mm exceeds 100 million. The particles travel at speeds up to Template:Convert, so even an impact of a small particle with a spacecraft can damage it severely.

## See also

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* Comparison of orbital launch systems
* Geostationary orbit (GEO)
* Heavy lift launch vehicle
* High Earth orbit (HEO)
* Highly elliptical orbit (HEO)
* List of orbits
* Medium Earth orbit (MEO)
* Medium-lift launch vehicle
* Specific orbital energy examples
* Suborbital spaceflight
* Ukrainian Optical Facilities for Near-Earth Space Surveillance Network
* Van Allen radiation belt

Template:Colend

## References

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Template:Orbits Template:People currently in space Template:Portal bar Template:Authority control

1. ↑ Current Catalog Files. “LEO: Mean Motion > 11.25 & Eccentricity < 0.25”
2. ↑ Template:Cite journal
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 IADC Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines. INTER-AGENCY SPACE DEBRIS COORDINATION COMMITTEE: Issued by Steering Group and Working Group 4 (September 2007). “Region A, Low Earth Orbit (or LEO) Region – spherical region that extends from the Earth's surface up to an altitude (Z) of 2,000 km”
4. ↑ Definition of LOW EARTH ORBIT (en).
5. ↑ Frequently Asked Questions (en-us). FAA. “LEO refers to orbits that are typically less than 2,400 km (1,491 mi) in altitude.”
6. ↑ Template:Cite news
7. ↑ Template:Cite news
8. ↑ Template:Cite news
9. ↑ LEO parameters.
10. ↑ Template:Cite journal
11. ↑ Template:Cite news
12. ↑ Higher Altitude Improves Station's Fuel Economy. NASA.
13. ↑ Holli, Riebeek (2009-09-04). NASA Earth Observatory (en).
14. ↑ Space station from 2001: A Space Odyssey.
15. ↑ "天宫一号成功完成二次变轨".
16. ↑ United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (2010). Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.
17. ↑ ARES | Orbital Debris Program Office | Frequently Asked Questions.
18. ↑ Garcia, Mark (2015-04-13). Space Debris and Human Spacecraft.