Image: Comparison satellite navigation orbits

Description: Comparison of GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and COMPASS (medium Earth orbit satellites) orbits with International Space Station, Hubble Space Telescope, geostationary and graveyard orbits, and the nominal size of the Earth.

For this diagram, the 3-dimensional aspect of orbits have been flattened. For instance, the view of the Earth depicted is looking down to the North Pole which makes the orbit representations appear to be equatorial. While this is accurate for geostationary orbits, other orbits listed are actually at significant inclinations. The inclination of Iridium orbits is at 86.4° which is nearly perpendicular to the diagrammed plane. Looking down to the North Pole from this zenith, a polar orbit of 90° inclination would actually appear as a straight line.
Author: cmglee
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
License: CC-BY-SA-3.0
License Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Attribution Required?: Yes