A (
Medium Earth Orbit) Satellite's orbiting height can
range from a few
hundred feet to a few
thousand feet above earth. It is not the the lowest orbiting satellite but it is
definitely not as
high as a
standard geostationary satellite.
MEOs fly in both near
circular orbits and in
eliptical ones. For an eliptical orbit, the
perigee is it's
lowest altitude, and the
apogee is it's
greatest. This
change in altitude causes it to change
speed a lot. It's speed is the greatest when it is near perigee. The circular orbit satellite
flies at a near
constant height so it's speed is also
constant. A satellite near perigee can
cross the sky in just a few
minutes while one near apogee can take
hours.
MEOs seem to be one of the most
efficient satellites. They have more
coverage than
LEOs (Low Earth Orbit) so you need many less satellites to make a a
network that provides
global coverage and they are lower than standard satellites so you can use much
smaller,
less powerful antennas to
access them.
thanks to:
http://www.whatis.com