Molniya Orbit
Molniya Orbit
Credits - Alaska Aerospace Development Corp.
A Molniya orbit, often referred to as a highly elliptical
orbit (or HEO) is an egg-shaped orbit inclined approximately 60 degrees to the
equator with a high apogee over the northern hemisphere and a low perigee over
the southern hemisphere. Molniya, which means "lightning" in Russian,
was the name of the first Russian communications satellites to use it. In this
type of orbit, the satellite makes one revolution around the Earth
approximately every 12 hours. The satellite swings low and fast over the
southern hemisphere and then slows as it rises toward its apogee in the
northern hemisphere, making it appear to "hover" in the sky over
northern territories for long periods of time. This type of orbit is suitable
for communications services in the high-latitude areas over Russia and is also
used by U.S. intelligence satellites that focus on spying on Russia and Russian
missile warning satellites that are observing U.S. ICBM silos.