What is the minimum speed required for a satellite to achieve a low Earth orbit?

Practice Questions

Q1
What is the minimum speed required for a satellite to achieve a low Earth orbit?
  1. 7.9 km/s
  2. 11.2 km/s
  3. 5.0 km/s
  4. 9.8 km/s

Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions

What is the minimum speed required for a satellite to achieve a low Earth orbit?
  • Step 1: Understand what a satellite in low Earth orbit (LEO) is. LEO is an orbit that is relatively close to the Earth, typically between 160 km to 2,000 km above the Earth's surface.
  • Step 2: Know that to stay in orbit, a satellite must move fast enough to counteract the pull of Earth's gravity.
  • Step 3: Learn that this speed is called orbital speed. For low Earth orbit, this speed is about 7.9 kilometers per second (km/s).
  • Step 4: Remember that this speed allows the satellite to balance the gravitational pull of the Earth, preventing it from falling back to the surface.
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