How fast do satellite's orbit the earth?

Question

Don't they orbit really fast? Like many times around the earth a minute? And, does it matter how high in space they are versus how fast they go? Thank you!

Answer 1

the orbital velocity increases proportionally as distance for the center of mass increases. so the further away an object is the slower it orbits the barycenter. another way to say it is the velocity is inversley proportional to the square root of the orbital radius.

so if a satelite is 1 unit from the center of earth then its v is 1. If the object had a distance of two then

v= 1/r squared

v=1/4

so the v is one fourth that of the satelitte orbiting i unit away

Answer 2

about 17,500 miles an hour

Answer 3

On average a satellite orbits the Earth once every ninety minutes, at a speed of about 17500 mph. The altitude does make a difference, the lower the satellite is the faster it must move.  

Answer 4

the "fastest" satellites orbit the earth every 90 minutes, starting around 130 miles up.  any lower than that, and they encounter enough atmospheric drag that they fall down.

as satellites go higher, they actually travel slower, and also take longer to go around.

at around 23,000 miles up, satellites over the equator take 24 hours to orbit the earth, and are in what are called geosynchronous orbits.

then, when you get up 240,000 miles, it takes a month to go around.

there are hundreds of satellites we're put up.  why don't they run into each other?  because there's lots of space.  let's suppose you drop 50 people around the united states.   maybe one in the middle of each state.  how likely are they to run into one another?  not very.  

to that, you have to add that the US occupies a very small part of the earth,  and is 2 dimensional, rather than 3.  that said, the important satellites do have thrusters, and are occasionally moved a bit to insure that they don't run into each other.

Saturn has 2 moons that share the same orbit.

if you read the links, and understand the dynamics of the moons, then you'll have a pretty good handle on why the higher satellites travel slower, but take more energy to get them where they are.

Answer 5

It all depends on the height of the orbit of the satellite.  Satellites in low earth orbit (which is generally considered from about 100 miles to 621 miles above the earth's surface) do orbit the earth about once every 90 minutes for an average speed of 17500 mph.  Satellites in geosynchronous orbit (which appear to be hovering over one spot on the earth all the time) orbit at a height of about 22,369 miles above the earth, and orbit the earth at a speed of about 6711mph.

The closer the orbit, the stronger the effect of gravity, and the faster the satellite needs to go to counter the force of gravity.

Answer 6

faster than i can walk but more slowly than the earth orbits the sun

Answer 7

low earth orbit satellites orbit the earth in roughly 90 minute to 1.5 hour periods. This means that they are fast moving at17,000mph

middle earth  - Most of the satellites in this orbital altitude circle the earth at approximately 6,000 to 12,000 miles above the earth in an elliptical orbit around the poles of the earth. As the earth rotates, these satellites cover the entire At 22,240 miles above the earth, craft inserted into orbit over the equator and travelling at approximately 6,880 miles per hour maintain their position over the earth's surface. Since the satellite follows the earth, and takes 24 hours to complete it's orbit around the earth, geostationary orbits are also called geosynchronous.surface of the earth. Fewer satellites are required to create coverage for the entire earth, as these satellites are higher and have a larger footprint.