Gps Satellite Orbit Radius

The satellites in the gps constellation are arranged into six equally spaced orbital planes.

Gps satellite orbit radius. In 24 hours the satellite crosses over the same two spots on the equator every day. Gps satellites fly in medium earth orbit meo at an altitude of approximately 20 200 km 12 550 miles. Glonass is a global navigation satellite system providing real time position and velocity determination for military and civilian users. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems gnss that provides geolocation and time information to a gps receiver anywhere on or near the earth where there is an unobstructed line of sight to.

With a mean earth radius of 6360 km the height of the orbits is then about 20200 km. Each satellite circles the earth twice a day. Enlarge expandable 24 slot satellite constellation as defined in the sps performance standard. It is the orbit used by the global positioning system gps satellites.

The global positioning system gps originally navstar gps is a satellite based radionavigation system owned by the united states government and operated by the united states space force. When a satellite travels in a geosynchronous orbit around the earth it needs to travel at a certain orbiting radius and period to maintain this orbit. As the satellite moves the earth rotates underneath it. Medium earth orbit meo sometimes called intermediate circular orbit ico is the region of space around earth above low earth orbit altitude of 2 000 km 1 243 mi above sea level and below geosynchronous orbit altitude of 35 786 km 22 236 mi above sea level.

This orbit is consistent and highly predictable. Comparison of geostationary earth orbit with gps glonass galileo and compass medium earth orbit satellite navigation system orbits with the international space station hubble space telescope and iridium constellation orbits and the nominal size of the earth. A satellite at this height takes 12 hours to complete an orbit. Because the radius and period are related you can use physics to calculate one if you know the other.

In comparison geostationary satellites like astra or meteosat satellites orbit the earth at 42300 km which is about twice the distance of gps satellites and gps tracking devices. The galileo constellation comprises of 30 satellites placed in meo orbit with 10 satellites placed in each of 3 orbital planes at 56º nominal inclination distributed evenly round the equator the active constellation comprises of 24 satellites walker 24 3 1 including 6 spare satellites which can be moved to replace any failed satellite within the same plane thereby reducing the impact. The moon s orbit is around 9 times larger in radius and length than geostationary orbit. The period of a satellite is the time it takes.