artificial satellite

Also known as artificial moon, space satellite

300px|thumb|upright=1.5|alt=Two 3U CubeSats|Two CubeSats orbiting around [[Earth after being deployed from the ISS Kibō module's Small Satellite Orbital Deployer]]

AI overview

An artificial satellite is a human-made object launched into space that orbits Earth or other celestial bodies. Satellites matter because they enable critical services like weather forecasting, GPS navigation, telecommunications, and scientific research about our planet and universe.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Wikidata facts

Image: Luna 1 - 2 Spacecraft.png

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Unicode character: 🛰
Commons category: Satellites
time of discovery or invention: 1957-10-04

Sources (4)

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~28 min read

Article

35 sections

Contents

History
Early proposals
First satellites
Later Satellite Development
Components
Orbit and altitude control
Power
Applications
Earth observation
Communication
Spy satellites
Navigation
Telescope
Experimental
Weapon
Environmental impact
Resource use
Launches
Operational
Low earth orbit satellites
Night sky
Ground-based infrastructure
Degeneration
Mitigation
Interference
Collision threat
Radio interference
Regulation
Liability
Operation
List
See also
Notes
References
External links

300px|thumb|upright=1.5|alt=Two 3U CubeSats|Two CubeSats orbiting around [[Earth after being deployed from the ISS Kibō module's Small Satellite Orbital Deployer]]

A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation (GPS), broadcasting, scientific research, and Earth observation. Additional military uses are reconnaissance, early warning, signals intelligence and, potentially, weapon delivery. Other satellites include the final rocket stages that place satellites in orbit and formerly useful satellites that later become defunct.