Altitude band: 2,000–35,786 km
Medium Earth Orbit is the band between LEO and GEO, dominated by the world's satellite navigation constellations. GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, and BeiDou all operate at roughly 20,000 km, where one satellite's footprint covers a huge fraction of the planet and orbits complete in roughly half a day.
Common uses: satellite navigation (GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, BeiDou), commercial broadband (O3b)
5 confirmed missions currently targeting Medium Earth Orbit.
Recent launches to Medium Earth Orbit from our archive: