Low Earth orbit is any orbit around Earth with an altitude roughly between 160 and 2,000 kilometers, low enough that objects there complete a full orbit in about 90 minutes to two hours. It is the most heavily used orbital regime for crewed spaceflight and Earth observation, home to the International Space Station, most communications and imaging satellites, and the great majority of tracked orbital debris. Because atmospheric drag is still measurable at these altitudes, uncrewed objects here gradually lose altitude and eventually reenter unless periodically boosted.
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.