Low-Earth Orbit Satellites

What are low-Earth orbit satellites?

Low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites are typically smaller, lower-cost satellites that orbit at just 200-900 miles above Earth. This is in constrast to larger geostationary satellites that rotate above the Earth at 22,000+ miles above a given position. LEO satellite constellations are becoming the most common approach for satellite-based broadband (e.g. SpaceX's Starlink, Amazon's Project Kuiper, OneWeb). Lower orbit means higher internet speeds and low latency – though it also means a constellation of satellites is needed for coverage (to compensate for faster travel speeds at lower orbit).