SESKStuff Everyone Should Know
SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/ham-leo-orbit

What does LEO mean for communication satellites?

Low Earth Orbit, with a period of around 100 minutes.

  1. Low Energy Orbit
  2. Low Elevation Orbit
  3. Low Earth Orbit ✔

Why: LEO satellites orbit fairly close to Earth and circle it roughly every 100 minutes. That makes them easy to reach with small antennas and low power.

Huh, didn't know that: The International Space Station, which carries a ham station, orbits Earth about every 90 minutes.

The dad joke
Why did the LEO satellite never get bored? It saw a new sunrise every hour and a half.
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Sources

  1. NCVEC 2026-2030 Technician Question Pool (Feb 19, 2026 release) https://www.ncvec.org/downloads/2026-2030%20Technician%20Pool%20and%20Syllabus%20Public%20Release%20Feb%2019%202026.pdf

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That's stuff everyone should know.