Yes. The reason they normally don't is a question of energy (or cost).
Since the Earth turns west to east you would have to overcome that component and THEN get up to orbital speed.
Earth's rotation is from west to east. When launching satellites, it's more convenient to launch in the same direction, to take advantage of this initial impulse, and thus save energy - since the satellite must have a certain speed in order to orbit Earth. To have a satellite from east to west would require an additional speed (with respect to Earth's surface) of twice the speed of Earth's rotation, which is about 1600 km/hour at the equator.
Most satellites are launched to the east to utilize the earth's rotation as an extra propelling force. The earth is rotating in a counter-clockwise direction when viewed from the North Pole (from west to east), and when we launch our satellites east we take advantage of this momentum (angular momentum) from the earth's rotation. In effect, a rocket sitting still on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral is ALREADY GOING EAST, at about 800 miles per hour! On the other hand, if we launch them westward, the satellites will have to fight against the angular momentum of the earth's rotation, which means more power is needed to break through the earth's atmosphere. As many of us might not have noticed, we are moving at a breathtaking speed just by standing still (about 1000miles/hour at the equator, and decreasing with increasing latitude) when viewed from outer space. Launching our satellites eastward will harvest this power and save on fuel cost, and in space shuttle terms, that's a lot of money! However, not ALL satellites are launched to the east; some are launched to the south. Some relatively small percentage of satellites are launched into polar orbits so that they orbit the Earth from south to north, and then north to south. The Earth spins west to east, so that the effective ground path of the satellite is covers the Earth like a ball of twine. American satellites launched into polar orbits are often launched from Vandenberg AFB in California, where a launch to the south keeps the rocket over water for several thousand miles.
No, the moon orbits the Earth from west to east, which is the same direction as the Earth's rotation. This eastward motion is why the moon rises in the east and sets in the west. The apparent westward movement of the moon across the sky each night is due to the Earth's rotation, not its orbit.
Celestial objects rise in the east and set in the west not due to Earth's revolution (orbit), but due to Earth's rotation, or how it spins. Since the earth spins around 1 full time approximately every day, we see all the objects in our sky come up and go back down once every day. It does this every day while orbiting the sun, but it takes a full year to get around the sun once, so the effects of the orbit are much slower.
The Earth rotates from west to east, which is why the sun appears to rise in the east and set in the west. This rotation occurs around an axis tilted at about 23.5 degrees relative to its orbit around the sun. The direction of sunset is generally toward the west, although it can vary slightly throughout the year due to the tilt of the Earth's axis.
the moon travels from west to east in its orbit
There are several man made satellites that orbit the Earth. The moon is the only satellite that orbits the Earth in a counter-clockwise fashion, from west to east.
An equatorial orbit is a type of orbit around a celestial body that lies in the same plane as the equator of that body. Satellites in equatorial orbits typically follow a path that moves from west to east, and they remain in relatively constant relation to the rotation of the body below. These orbits are often used for communication and weather satellites due to their stable coverage of the Earth's surface.
Anything in orbit could be considered a satellite. There is one natural satellite - the moon. There are hundreds of navigation, communications, weather, science/experimental and military/intelligence satellites in orbit. There are thousands of bits of "space junk" orbiting the earth at present.
This allows them to see the entire surface of the Earth. The Earth is rotating East to West. (Or West to East if you were the satellite.) If you placed a satellite into an East-West orbit, it would not see the polar regions. If it were high enough (geo-stationary), it would only see one spot on the Earth. By using North-South (polar) orbits, the satellites will, after several orbits, be able to see the entire surface of the Earth.
Are you sure it was a satellite ? The International Space Station is also visible from earth. Most satellites are in a geo-stationary orbit - in that they orbit the earth at the same speed the earth spins on its axis.
They go around and around. More artificial satellites proceed from west to east, because it takes less energy (fuel) to launch a satellite into that kind of orbit. But there's no fundamental reason why a satellite can't go in any direction you want. The only requirements are . . . -- The center of the Earth has to be in the plane of the orbit. -- If you expect it to stay up there for a while, then the satellite has to stay outside most of the Earth's atmosphere.
The International Space Station orbits the Earth from west to east. This means it travels in an easterly direction as it completes each orbit around the Earth.
In this case, there is 'true' motion, and there is 'apparent' motion. To an observer on earth, the moon 'appears' to rise in the east and set in the west, just like the sun. But in fact the moon travels from west to east in its orbit around the earth. From a perspective far about the earth and to the north, the moon travels counter-clockwise around the earth. It is the relatively rapid daily spin of the earth from west to east that causes the apparent motion. The moon takes a whole month to orbit earth; in that time 27+ days have gone by on earth.
Earth's rotation is from west to east. When launching satellites, it's more convenient to launch in the same direction, to take advantage of this initial impulse, and thus save energy - since the satellite must have a certain speed in order to orbit Earth. To have a satellite from east to west would require an additional speed (with respect to Earth's surface) of twice the speed of Earth's rotation, which is about 1600 km/hour at the equator.
because we orbit
The sun appears to move from east to west in the sky due to the rotation of the Earth on its axis from west to east. This rotation causes the sun to rise in the east and set in the west as the Earth moves in its orbit around the sun.