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.
Gps satellite orbit radius.
The satellites in the gps constellation are arranged into six equally spaced orbital planes.
Because the radius and period are related you can use physics to calculate one if you know the other.
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.
It is the orbit used by the global positioning system gps satellites.
Each satellite circles the earth twice a day.
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.
The satellites are located in middle circular orbit at 19 100 kilometres 11 900 mi altitude with a 64 8 degree inclination and a period of 11 hours and 15 minutes.
A satellite at this height takes 12 hours to complete an orbit.
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.
The orbit is home to a number of artificial satellites the most common uses include navigation communication and.
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.
As the satellite moves the earth rotates underneath it.
Glonass is a global navigation satellite system providing real time position and velocity determination for military and civilian users.
With a mean earth radius of 6360 km the height of the orbits is then about 20200 km.
Orbits in this height are referred to as meo medium earth orbit.
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 period of a satellite is the time it takes.
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.
This orbit is consistent and highly predictable.
Gps satellites fly in medium earth orbit meo at an altitude of approximately 20 200 km 12 550 miles.
