A geostationary satellite orbits Earth from west to east over the equator. It moves in the same direction and speed as Earth is spinning, therefore from Earth, these satellites don't appear to be moving.
Polar-orbiting satellites orbit Earth in a north-south direction from pole to pole, so as Earth spins underneath, these satellites scan the entire globe strip by strip.
Low Earth orbit (LEO) is an altitude classification for any satellites that are in orbit less than 2000 km (1240 mi) above Earth, which has about 500 active satellites.
Medium Earth orbit (MEO) is any orbit higher than LEO but still below the altitude for geostationary orbit which is 35,786 km (22,236 mi), about 50 active satellites.
High Earth orbit (HEO) is any orbit higher than geostationary orbit at 35,786 km (22,236 mi), which has over 400 active satellites.
The speed a satellite must travel to stay in space is called its orbital velocity. It usually needs to be more than 17,500 mph (28,200 km/h).
Space debris can be anything from large obsolete satellites to natural or artificial fragments of space materials. Since 1957, the Space Surveillance Network SSN has tracked more than 26,000 objects above 10 cm in diameter.
Satellites are programmed to avoid meteorites so they don’t get destroyed. Of over 8,000 satellites orbiting the Earth, only one has ever been destroyed by a meteorite.
In 2007, China tested a missile and shot down one of their own satellites, accidentally creating 2,087 pieces of space debris on crazy orbits, all of which are now required to be tracked to avoid space collisions.
“LES1”, a satellite that had been abandoned in 1967, recently started transmitting again, after its batteries decayed, shorting the solar panels straight to the electronics.
In 1977, William Kampiles stole a top secret KH-11 spy satellite manual from the CIA which he sold to the Russians for $3000. He then told the CIA for who he worked what he had done in the hopes that they would hire him as a double agent.
In 1996, NASA generated electricity with a satellite on a 13-mile long wire, released from Space Shuttle. The wire was clearly visible from Earth and was one of the biggest human-made objects in space.
In 1981, India launched its first satellite that was transported on an ox-cart, with the rocket parts carried on the back of bicycles.
TLC was founded in 1972 with the help of NASA and was an informative and instructional network focused on providing real education via television; it was distributed at no cost by NASA satellite.
There is a large area over Brazil where the Earth's magnetic field has weakened, it is so large that NASA powers down its satellites when passing over.
The act of Kinetic Bombardment (firing large metal rods from a satellite into the Earth’s surface at terminal velocity as a weapon) remains legal.
The first nuclear missile test in space “starfish prime” knocked out several allied satellites and disabled communications on Hawaii.
NASA mapping satellites discovered Mayan ruins that were overgrown by the jungle.
All 24 GPS satellites are equipped with atomic clocks capable of getting the time stamp to a location to the 100 billionths of a second.
Measuring 4086mi^2, the largest salt pan Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia is so flat that rain can’t drain, creating the world’s largest natural mirror.
Einstein’s special theory of Relativity predicts a “second” is 8 microseconds longer for a GPS satellite traveling 9000 mph than it is for the GPS unit on the ground. Your GPS unit is programmed to adjust for the difference.
The UK is the only country to have successfully developed a satellite launch capability and then abandon it.
Metal “whiskers” can grow spontaneously from circuit board components, and have caused the failure of at least one satellite, and were detected in a failed relay at a nuclear power plant.
In 2011, NASA’s Terra satellite spotted a 150 km-wide whirlpool in the S. Atlantic. It stood out because it was glowing.
A Canadian inventor tried to create a “supergun” which could fire satellites into orbit from a 512 foot-long barrel embedded inside a hill.
In 1985, the USAF shot down a satellite with a missile launched from an F-15.
In 1998, one satellite failed and it caused about 80% of the world’s pagers to stop working.
Older generation spy satellites predated any form of digital imaging by decades. They literally exposed film and dropped it back to earth in small re-entry pods.
A city in Texas renamed itself to “DISH, Texas” in order to receive free Dish Satellite service for 10 years.
A man received an emergency satellite locator beacon as a present, didn’t read the instructions and ended up triggering 9 false alarms Search and Rescue deployments over the course of 12 weeks.
The first American spy satellites literally dropped their film from space in a “film bucket” that was then scooped up in midair by a plane.
The first attempt of the United States to launch a satellite into orbit failed, the Soviet Union offered the United States aid which was earmarked for undeveloped countries.
There is a satellite orbiting Earth that is predicted to re-enter the atmosphere in 8.4 million years, carrying a message addressed to the beings/humans and civilization of the future.
As more satellites are launched the chances of a crash increases, in 2009, two communications satellites - one American and one Russian - collided in space.
Space probes have been put into orbit around other planets and moons in our solar system.
'Geocentric orbit' is the term for an orbit around Earth. 'Heliocentric orbit' is a term for an orbit of the Sun. 'Areocentric orbit' is the term for an orbit of Mars.
The two main components of an artificial satellite is an antenna to send and receive information and a power source such as a solar panel or battery.
A satellite is an artificial object that is deliberately sent into orbit in space, usually in order to send, receive or bounce back information to different areas of Earth.
Artificial satellites are man-made satellites, they differ to natural satellites such as the Moon which orbits Earth and Earth itself which orbits the Sun.
Satellites are usually launched on rockets into space to reach their orbits.
In October 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1 which was the world's first artificial satellite to be sent into space orbit.
This event lead to the start of the 'Space Race' between the Soviet Union and the United States which would continue for many years.
Sputnik 2, launched in November 1957, carried the first living creature into orbit, a dog named Laika.
Just three months after the Soviet Unions first successful satellite launch, the USA launched its first satellite, Explorer 1, in January 1958.
Since the first satellite was launched in 1957, over 6,500 satellites have been sent into orbit (as at October 2010). An estimated 3,600 of these remain in orbit. With about 1,000 still operational, the rest are now classed as space debris.
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest artificial satellite currently orbiting Earth.