Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body, expressed as the angle between the orbital plane and a reference plane, such as a planet's equator or, for objects orbiting the Sun, the ecliptic. It is one of the six classical orbital elements used to fully describe the size, shape and orientation of an orbit, and it determines, among other things, which latitudes a satellite passes over.
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The Wikipedia Orbital inclination article, checked 2026-09-12, defines the term and its use but names no individual as having proposed or introduced it as an orbital element. The article's only historical attribution found is Peter Goldreich's unrelated 1966 work on lunar orbit evolution. Concept Domain Connections
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Source Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Source Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Source Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
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1. Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Wikimedia FoundationOrbital inclination, Types of inclination section
An inclination of exactly 90° is a polar orbit, in which the spacecraft passes over the poles of the planet.
- Associated With: Orbital Mechanics
- Associated With: Geostationary Orbit
- Associated With: Orbital Eccentricity
View the Source Orbital inclination (Wikipedia)
Orbital inclination, lead section
Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body.
In Group: Orbital Elements and Celestial Mechanics, Lead sentence
Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body.
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