High Earth orbit


A high Earth orbit is a geocentric orbit with an altitude entirely above that of a geosynchronous orbit. The orbital periods of such orbits are greater than 24 hours, therefore satellites in such orbits have an apparent retrograde motion – that is, even if they are in a prograde orbit, their orbital velocity is lower than Earth's rotational speed, causing their ground track to move westward on Earth's surface.

Examples of satellites in high Earth orbit