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What Is A Satellite

A satellite is a body that orbits a planet, including natural satellites like the Moon and artificial satellites created by humans. The Moon, Earth's only natural satellite, formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago, likely from a collision with a Mars-sized planet. As of August 2021, over 11,449 artificial satellites have been launched, with the first being launched by the Soviet Union in 1957.

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7 views2 pages

What Is A Satellite

A satellite is a body that orbits a planet, including natural satellites like the Moon and artificial satellites created by humans. The Moon, Earth's only natural satellite, formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago, likely from a collision with a Mars-sized planet. As of August 2021, over 11,449 artificial satellites have been launched, with the first being launched by the Soviet Union in 1957.

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pwndbyraslen
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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1.What is a satellite?

Definition of satellite
A satellite is a body that orbits a planet and moves periodically in a

closed orbit, which includes natural satellite and artificial satellite.

Natural satellite
Moon

The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite and the fifth largest satellite

in the solar system. Moon's diameter is just 1/4 the size of Earth, with the

mass 1/80 that of the Earth. It is generally believed that the Moon was

formed about 4.5 billion years ago, shortly after the appearance of the Earth.

There are several hypotheses about its origin, but none of them offer

completely plausible and clear-cut explanations. The most widely accepted

one is the Giant Impact Hypothesis, which suggests that the moon formed

from the collision between the Earth and a Mars-sized planet called Theia

Galilean satellites

Galilean satellites are the four largest moons of Jupiter, which are first

seen by Galileo Galilei on January 7, 1610. These four satellites can be

observed with low-power telescopes. Without light pollution, the

environment is so good that Ganymede and Callisto can even be barely seen
with the naked eye. It is also easy to take pictures of the Galileo satellites

with digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras and appropriate telescopic

lenses in areas with less light pollution. Jupiter is the planet with the most

satellites in the solar system, and has 64 known satellites.

Artificial satellite
The man-made earth satellite is a kind of satellite created and designed

by mankind, launched into the earth's orbit with a launch vehicle, and

making periodic movements around the earth.

Artificial satellite basically moves around the earth according to the law

of celestial mechanics, but the actual movement is very complicated

because it is affected by many factors in different orbits. Artificial satellite

is the most widely used and the fastest-growing spacecraft with the highest

number of launches. The number of artificial satellite launches accounts for

over 90% of total number of spacecraft launches.

By August 2021, there are a total of 11,449 satellites launched. On 4

October 1957, the Soviet Union launched the world's first artificial satellite.

China launched its first satellite Dong Fang Hong I (DFH I) on April 24,

1970.

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