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.
Most communications satellites operate outside of the earth's atmosphere. The GPS satellites are about 23,000 miles from the surface of the earth.
It depends one what satellite it is. Differents types of satellite orbit the Earth at different altitudes. In Low Earth Orbit satellites travel between 160km and 2000km above the Earth, in Medium Earth Orbit they travel between 2000km and 35000km above the Earh, and in Geostationary Orbit they travel above 160km and below 35000km around the Equator.
You mean Earth observation satellites, and the answer is near-Polar low-Earth orbits. This means that as the satellite orbits from above one pole to the other, the Earth turns beneath it, and the satellite passes over the Equator, and every other point on its orbit, at a different place on each successive orbit. In this way, after enough orbits, it can view the whole Earth. Earth observation satellites are placed in low-Earth orbit because (a) they travel faster over the ground at lower altitude and (b) being closer to the ground, their telescopes do not need to be so powerful to achieve a given spatial resolution. Military observation, or spy, satellites, are often placed in a high parking orbit until they are needed, whereupon they are placed into a highly elliptical orbit to allow them to come very close to Earth (and hence see it with great detail) over the region of interest.
communication satellites, astronomy, navigation, etc.
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.
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.
1,400,000 meters is the same as 1400km
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.
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.
Satellites orbit in several different regions of space in the sky. Orbits fall into 3 main categories based on distance: Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at an altitude of 160 - 2000 km, Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at an altitude of 2000 - 35000 km, and High Earth Orbit (HEO) at altitudes greater than 36000 km. One special orbit in which a large number of satellites have been placed into is a geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO), which is at the exact distance such that the satellite orbits the earth at the same angular velocity at which the earth spins. Most satellites orbit in circular orbits. A few are in elliptical orbits in which their distance varies.
Communication satellites orbit around the Earth.Communication satellites orbit around the Earth.Communication satellites orbit around the Earth.Communication satellites orbit around the Earth.
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.
Most communications satellites operate outside of the earth's atmosphere. The GPS satellites are about 23,000 miles from the surface of the earth.
It depends one what satellite it is. Differents types of satellite orbit the Earth at different altitudes. In Low Earth Orbit satellites travel between 160km and 2000km above the Earth, in Medium Earth Orbit they travel between 2000km and 35000km above the Earh, and in Geostationary Orbit they travel above 160km and below 35000km around the Equator.
The altitude of a satellite's orbit depends on the purpose of the satellite. Photographic satellites orbit close to the Earth, to get a good view. They are about 130 miles up. We want weather satellites and communications satellites to stay in the same spot in the sky all the time, which is called "geo-synchronous orbit", 23,500 miles up. GPS satellites are about 12,000 miles up.
GPS satellites orbit at 11,000 nautical miles above the Earth