High Earth orbit

This article is about a type of geocentric orbit defined by altitude. For a more common disambiguation of HEO, see Highly elliptical orbit.
Space of high Earth orbits (HEO), between medium Earth orbits (MEO) and the orbit of the Moon.

A high Earth orbit is a geocentric orbit with an apogee farther than that of the geosynchronous orbit, which is 35,786 km (22,236 mi) away from Earth.[1] In this article, the non-standard abbreviation of HEO is used for high Earth orbit.[2]

The development of HEO technology has had a significant impact on space exploration and has paved the way for future missions to deep space. The ability to place satellites in HEO has allowed scientists to make groundbreaking discoveries in astronomy and Earth science, while also enabling global communication and navigation systems.[3]

  1. ^ "Catalog of Earth Satellite Orbits". earthobservatory.nasa.gov. NASA Earth Observatory. 2009-09-04. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
  2. ^ "Types of Orbits". spacefoundation.org. Space Foundation. Retrieved 2023-04-22.
  3. ^ "Catalog of Earth Satellite Orbits: Three Classes of Orbit". earthobservatory.nasa.gov. NASA Earth Observatory. 2009-09-04. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-04-05.