How Fast Does A Spacecraft Orbit? - For How Things Fly

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Skip to main content How Fast Does a Spacecraft Orbit? A satellite orbits the earth above a little house on the earth’s surface. Credit: National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution

To maintain a circular orbit just above Earth’s atmosphere, a spacecraft must move at about 8 kilometers (5 miles) per second. Increasing the spacecraft’s launch velocity will make it swing farther from Earth. Increasing it to 11 kilometers (7 miles) per second will make the spacecraft escape from the Earth altogether.

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