The highest satellite of the Earth is the "Moon", which averages nearly a quarter
million miles out. (238,000 miles)
The highest artificial satellites in roughly symmetrical orbits are probably the
geostationary ones, like the ones you aim your little TV dish at. Those are in
orbits that are 22,236 miles above the equator. That's the magic size for an
orbit where the period of revolution is equal to the Earth's rotation period,
so if you put that orbit over the equator, then the satellite looks like it never
moves from its place in the sky, and you don;t have to move your dish to track it.
Such a satellite must be fairly close to the Earth's surface.
There's just gravity acting as the centripetal force keeping the satellite in its circular orbit. This force is equal to GMEm/r2 = ma = mv2/r.
Gravity keeps satellites in orbit. The closer you are to the Earth, the faster you have to go to maintain your orbit. At low Earth orbit, the altitude of the Space Station, you make an orbit every 90 minutes. At the Moon's distance you need over 27 days to go around the Earth. In-between there is an altitude which matches the rate of the Earth's rotation. Many satellites orbit at this altitude.
No, all satellites do not orbit Earth at the same altitude. An good overview of this can be found on http://www.idirect.net/Company/Satellite-Basics/How-Satellite-Works.aspx. This overview reviews Low Earth Orbit, Medium Earth Orbit and Geostationary Orbits.
Because the Space Shuttle will have to fly at a higher altitude and different inclination that if it was going to the ISS (International Space Station), it will take a little under 3 days to get there. The Hubble Telescope operates past the reach of the Earths Atmosphere, at an orbit of approximately 360 miles above the Earth. Although it could techincally reach it sooner, there is a slight chance that the Space Shuttle may encounter some space junk, especially after the recent collision of two satellites orbitting the planet.
If a satellite is in geosynchronous orbit, it will take the satellite 24 hours, a day, to orbit the Earth once. This is so because geosynchronous orbit is when a satellite orbit the Earth at such a time, that is is over the Earth at all times.
That depends on the altitude. Low altitude satellites, about 140 miles up, take about 90 minutes to orbit. Communications satellites 23,000 miles up take 24 hours. The higher the orbit, the longer it takes.
24 hours
For any body in a closed orbit around another body, the farther apart the two bodies are, the slower the satellite moves in its orbit.. When the Space Shuttle is in "low earth orbit", it moves faster than the Moon is moving in its orbit. A satellite in an elongated orbit, that spends some of the time close to the earth and some of the time farther away, moves fastest at its lowest altitude, and slowest when it is furthest away.
The time it takes to put together a satellite varies on the size and structure of the satellite. A simple satellite could be put together in a couple of months, where a large science mission could take ten or more years.
Assuming that the speed stays constant, the higher the altitude, the more time is taken to complete one orbit. In this situation, the altitude is directly proportional to the time taken; as one increases, so does the other.
That depends on the size of the revolving object's orbit away from the surface of the earth. The larger the orbit, the longer it takes for the object to complete one revolution. The SHORTEST possible time is about 86 minutes. That's the period of an orbit that's just high enough so that atmospheric drag doesn't immediately bring the object down. If the orbit is about 238,000 miles out from the earth, then the period for one revolution is about 27.3 days. There's one satellite in that kind of orbit right now.
Orbital times vary as a function of the height of the orbiting vehicle or object. The higher its altitude, the longer it takes to make an orbit. The ISS and space shuttle are in low earth orbit and take approximately ninety minutes to complete one orbit.
The speed it takes to complete and orbit is based on the altitude. Each altitude has a specific speed. One cannot be in a low orbit, say 160 miles perigee that takes 90 minutes to complete, and go faster at 160 miles perigee and take 80 minutes. If one increases their orbital velocity, it increases their altitude AND it makes the orbit take longer to complete. Its kind of a crazy way to do things, but we're talking about rotational physics, not linear (which we are more accustomed to). How backwards is this?? Let's say you're trying to reach the space station and it is ahead of you in orbit. If you want to go FASTER in orbit, you actually need to SLOW down, drop to a lower orbit, which will be faster, until you slightly pass the space station. THEN you speed up, go to a higher orbit where the space station is, and link up. There is a reason astronauts are good at math and that computers are necessary in spaceflight!
The orbit helps the satellite go into orbit.
There's just gravity acting as the centripetal force keeping the satellite in its circular orbit. This force is equal to GMEm/r2 = ma = mv2/r.
There are many satellites that orbit the earth in a day or less. All of them are man made. The only real satellite that orbits the earth is the moon. That takes 28 days to complete a single orbit.
Gravity keeps satellites in orbit. The closer you are to the Earth, the faster you have to go to maintain your orbit. At low Earth orbit, the altitude of the Space Station, you make an orbit every 90 minutes. At the Moon's distance you need over 27 days to go around the Earth. In-between there is an altitude which matches the rate of the Earth's rotation. Many satellites orbit at this altitude.