Medium Earth orbit

Medium Earth orbit (MEO), sometimes called intermediate circular orbit (ICO), is the region of space around the Earth above low Earth orbit (altitude of 2000 km) and below geostationary orbit (altitude of 35786 km).

The most common use for satellites in this region is for navigation, communication, and geodetic/space environment science. The most common altitude is approximately 20200 km), which yields an orbital period of 12 hours, as used, for example, by the Global Positioning System (GPS). Other satellites in medium Earth orbit include Glonass (with an altitude of 19100 km) and Galileo (with an altitude of 23222 km) constellations. Communications satellites that cover the North and South Pole are also put in MEO.

The orbital periods of MEO satellites range from about 2 to nearly 24 hours. Telstar 1, an experimental satellite launched in 1962, orbits in MEO.

The orbit is home to a number of artificial satellites.