All About Artificial Satellites

by Jerry Coffey on January 25, 2008

All About Artificial Satellites

Sputnik, the first artificial satellite

A satellite is any object or body that orbits around another object. An artificial satellite is any human made object designed to orbit the Earth or any other celestial body. The is no where near all about artificial satellites. There is a seemingly overwhelming amount of technology and engineering that goes into building even the simplest artificial satellite. Despite the challenges of constructing an artificial satellite, there are thousands of them orbiting our planet.

To help you understand all about artificial satellites we have assembled a group of links to articles that we have here on Universe Today. Each article also includes additional links to authoritative sites about some of the technology involved in launching a satellite.

To help motivate you to dive into the links below, here are some interesting facts all about artificial satellites.

Just as we have a habit of spreading junk and trash around our planet, there are 8,000 known pieces of junk floating in orbit around the Earth. That is in addition to the 3,000 viable satellites that are competing for a free path around the globe.

Most satellites are in geosynchronous orbit so that they can deliver reliable transmissions for television and communication.

Most real-time satellite images provided by Google, Yahoo, etc come from the satellites of one company. GeoEye Inc can find anything anywhere in the world.

Since a satellite can find your house, why shouldn’t you be able to find the satellite. There are several online resources that allow you to track the whereabouts of most commercial satellites and some spacecraft like the International Space Station. You will find the links you need in one of the articles below.

Those facts do not even touch on the onboard technology, so you can feel assured that there is plenty more information to be had in links below. Hopefully, you find everything that you need and, as always, enjoy your research.

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