GPS satellites orbit at 11,000 nautical miles above the Earth
from satellites in orbit.
The GPS satellites are not in geo-stationary orbit, but instead orbit twice every time the Earth rotates once. This means that for any observer the satellites appear to orbit once overhead each day. Such an arrangement gives better coverage. It is also clever in the sense that the motion of any GPS satellite will repeat itself each day. The GPS constellation of 24 satellites are arranged in six different orbital planes, each inclined 55 degrees to the equator. To obtain exactly two orbits per day, the satellites are placed at an altitude of 20,200km!!!
There are currently 32 GPS satellites Orbiting earth at 20,000Kms above sea level There are also 24 GLONASS satellites (The russian version of a GPS satellite) Which many high end GPS receivers will use in conjunction with the standard GPS satellites. These orbit a little lower than GPS at arond 19,000Kms above sea level. There are 4 Galileo Satellites, which are currently un used, but are the start of the European satellite constealltion which is a work in progress. They orbit at 24,000Kms above sea level. On top of all that, there are 10 Chinese navigation satellites called COMPASS orbiting in an orbit above China and Asia. They orbit at around 21,000 Kms above sea level.
The GPS system was developed and funded by the U.S. Department of Defense. The cost of putting GPS satellites into orbit was covered by the U.S. government.
Geostationary satellites are the ones used for GPS satellites.
GPS satellites orbit at 11,000 nautical miles above the Earth
There are currently 30 healthy GPS satellites in orbit.
from satellites in orbit.
The GPS satellites are not in geo-stationary orbit, but instead orbit twice every time the Earth rotates once. This means that for any observer the satellites appear to orbit once overhead each day. Such an arrangement gives better coverage. It is also clever in the sense that the motion of any GPS satellite will repeat itself each day. The GPS constellation of 24 satellites are arranged in six different orbital planes, each inclined 55 degrees to the equator. To obtain exactly two orbits per day, the satellites are placed at an altitude of 20,200km!!!
There are currently 32 GPS satellites Orbiting earth at 20,000Kms above sea level There are also 24 GLONASS satellites (The russian version of a GPS satellite) Which many high end GPS receivers will use in conjunction with the standard GPS satellites. These orbit a little lower than GPS at arond 19,000Kms above sea level. There are 4 Galileo Satellites, which are currently un used, but are the start of the European satellite constealltion which is a work in progress. They orbit at 24,000Kms above sea level. On top of all that, there are 10 Chinese navigation satellites called COMPASS orbiting in an orbit above China and Asia. They orbit at around 21,000 Kms above sea level.
There are currently 32 GPS satellites Orbiting earth at 20,000Kms above sea level There are also 24 GLONASS satellites (The russian version of a GPS satellite) Which many high end GPS receivers will use in conjunction with the standard GPS satellites. These orbit a little lower than GPS at arond 19,000Kms above sea level. There are 4 Galileo Satellites, which are currently un used, but are the start of the European satellite constealltion which is a work in progress. They orbit at 24,000Kms above sea level. On top of all that, there are 10 Chinese navigation satellites called COMPASS orbiting in an orbit above China and Asia. They orbit at around 21,000 Kms above sea level.
Satellite. Satellites can be natural, like the Moon, or artificial like GPS satellites.
Most communications satellites operate outside of the earth's atmosphere. The GPS satellites are about 23,000 miles from the surface of the earth.
First was sputnik, but anything from the Direct TV and XM radio satellites and telecommunication, GPS to the International Space Station are artificial satellites in Earth Orbit. There are artificial satellites currently in orbit around other planets as well.
GPS was not invented for forty years after WWII ended. GPS depends on satellites orbiting the earth. The satellites get there by rocket. The first satellite did not orbit the earth until 1957.
With large number of low-earth-orbit satellites and the geo-synchronous orbit stuffed full of communications satellites, there aren't all THAT many "medium" altitude satellites. But there are some. The GPS navigation satellites, for example, are in highly inclined 12-hour orbits, and an unknown number of military "spy" satellites are in that middle range.