How fast do satellites move?

Question

I know there are various speeds for satellites, from the exact speed of the rotation of the earth to much faster. Could someone break it down for me? Please site your source!

Answer 1

The speed of a satellite around a single body in a circular orbit correlates inversely with its altitude, and positively with the mass of the body it orbits.

A satellite in geosynchronous orbit 35786 km above earth's surface rotates around the earth in the same amount of time that it takes the earth to turn around once (so it stays above the same spot). The satellite is moving much faster than the earth's surface, though, because it must cover much more distance in the same amount of time. A geosynchronous satellite is moving at about 3.07 km/sec.

Lower orbits are much faster. The space shuttle at 300km is moving at more like 7.73 km/sec.

For comparison, the earth's surface at the equator moves at a leisurely 0.46 km/sec. To obtain a circular orbit of this velocity around earth, you would need to be at an altitude of around 1.6 million km. It would take you more than 7 months to complete an orbit, if you weren't pulled away by another solar system object first.

Answer 2

Satellite Speed

Answer 3

Some satellites revolve around the earth in elliptical orbits. These satellites move rapidly when they are near perigee, or their lowest altitude; they move slowly when they are near apogee, or their highest altitude.

A satellite in low earth orbit circles the earth 100 to 300 miles above the earth's surface. Because it is close to the earth, it must travel very fast to avoid being pulled out of orbit by gravity and crashing into the earth. Satellites in low earth orbit travel about 17,500 miles per hour. These satellites can circle the whole earth in about an hour and a half.

A satellite in geosynchronous orbit circles the earth in 24 hours—the same time it takes the earth to rotate one time.

Communications satellites that cover the North Pole and the South Pole are placed in a medium altitude, oval orbit. Instead of making circles around the earth, these satellites make ovals.

Answer 4

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With equal masses, the gravitational accelerating forces are inversely proportional to (orbital radius)^2 1) The tangential velocity of Satellite A is: Va = sqrt(Fa*ra) Since Fa is proportional to 1 / ra^2, Va is proportional to sqrt(1/ra) Similarly, Vb is proportional to sqrt(1/rb) Since ra is less than rb, then Va is greater than Vb => Satellite A is moving faster 2) Gravitational acceleration is M*V^2 / r M is the same for each satellite, but since Va > Vb then Satellite A also experiences the larger acceleration

Answer 5

The speed of an Earth-bound satellite is determined by Earth's gravity. An orbit is the balance point between a path of re-entry and escape.

Because of the Earth's uneven atmosphere, orbits below 185 kilometers will not last for very long.

For convenience, let's start at 200 km.
The orbital velocity at 200 kilometers is 7.78 km/sec. The period of the orbit is 88.49 minutes.

The orbital velocity at 400 kilometers is 7.67 km/sec. The period of the orbit is 92.56 minutes.

The orbital velocity at 800 kilometers is 7.45 km/sec. The period of the orbit is 100.87 minutes.

The orbital velocity at 1,600 kilometers is 7.07 km/sec. The period of the orbit is 118.20 minutes.

The orbital velocity at 3,200 kilometers is 6.45 km/sec. The period of the orbit is 155.48 minutes.

The orbital velocity at 6,400 kilometers is 5.59 km/sec. The period of the orbit is 239.59 minutes.

The orbital velocity at 12,800 kilometers is 4.56 km/sec. The period of the orbit is 440.52 minutes, or 7.342 hours.

The orbital velocity at 25,600 kilometers is 3.53 km/sec. The period of the orbit is 948.50 minutes, or 15.8 hours.

The orbital velocity at 35,864 kilometers is 3.07 km/sec. The period of the orbit is 1,440.05 minutes, or 24 hours. This is called a geo-synchronous orbit, and the satellite would be seen as a stationary object if it were over the equator and traveling from West to East..

The orbital velocity at 51,200 kilometers is 2.63 km/sec. The period of the orbit is 2,291.63 minutes, or 38.19 hours. This satellite would appear to be moving slowly in the other direction.

The orbital velocity at 385,000 kilometers is 1.01 km/sec. The period of the orbit is 40,611.89 minutes, or 28 days. This is the distance of the moon.

;-D It is misleading to say a satellite could travel at the same speed as the rotation of the Earth. A satellite could take the same time as the rotation, but it is not likely to be going at the same speed. The Earth at the equator is traveling only .465 km/sec, or 1,040 miles per hour.

The orbital velocity at 1,900,000 kilometers is .46 km/sec. The period of the orbit is 436,588 minutes, or more than 303 days. This would appear to be an object more in a co-orbit with the Earth than a satellite of the Earth. There are some strange asteroids out there who's orbits are influenced by the Earth.

Answer 6

They move just fast enough that centrifugal acceleration exactly balances gravitational acceleration. Use the formula V^2/ R(x5280) = g(R+4000x5280)^2/(4000^x5280)^2 where R = distance of the satellite from the earth's surface in miles , g = gravitational acceleration at the earth's surface = 32 ft/sec^2 aand V will be the orbital velocityin ft/sec

Answer 7

Orbital Velocity is the velocity which is given to a satellite so that it may revolve around the earth..

Define the following variables:

G = gravitational constant
m = Mass of satellite
h = altitude of the satellite above surface of earth.
R = radius of earth
r = radius of circular orbit of satellite = R + h
v = orbital velocity
M = Mass of the earth.

For the satellite to remain in orbit, the centripetal force must balance the force of gravity

Centripetal force = m*v^2/r
Gravitational force = GMm/r^2

Then m*v^2 /r= GMm/r^2 or v^2 = GM/r

so v (orbital velocity) = SQRT(GM / (R + h)

The first source I sited is OK but confusing. The second does a more interesting derivation. And the last is fairly detailed.

Answer 8

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RE:
How fast do satellites move?
I know there are various speeds for satellites, from the exact speed of the rotation of the earth to much faster. Could someone break it down for me? Please site your source!

Answer 9

Mercy, I've already spent too much time on this one. What really seems to complicate it is that Earth is not a point-mass but a large sphere compared to the orbits you're probably interested in. And I see that none of the posters above have really given you what you asked for - guess I'll do the same, except add the following -

ALTITUDE . . . . .SPEED
100-200 km . . 7.8km/sec
2000km . . . . . . 6.9km/sec
35,600km . . . .3.1km/sec (Geostationary)
384,000km . . .1.03km/sec (moon)

Now if you can come up with a simple function that gives about the same speed for the given altitudes, great work.

BW,
GH
2000

Answer 10

Satellite A is moving faster and it is experiencing a larger gravitational acceleration.