<p>Orbits around Earth need to be within its <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_sphere" rel="nofollow">Hill sphere</a>. Earth's Hill sphere is the region where Earth's gravity field dominates over the gravity fields of Moon and Sun. For Earth the radius of the Hill sphere is about 1.5 million kilometers. But for long-term stability the satellite needs to be well within the Hill sphere, less than half the maximum radius.</p>

<p>The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_velocity" rel="nofollow">escape velocity</a> from Earth's surface is about 11.2 km per second. That's the velocity an objects needs at the surface of Earth, relative to a non-rotating coordinate system, to escape the gravity field of Earth, no atmospheric drag assumed.</p>

<p>The escape velocity is dependent of the distance from Earth's center of gravity, the further away from Earth the slower the escape velocity. Its roughly proporional to the inverse of the square root of the distance from Earth's center, as long as points above Earth's surface are considered.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-01T12:27:38.773Z
2014-03-01T12:40:49.413Z
2014-03-01T12:40:49.413Z
Gerald
<p>What is the maximum distance for a satellite to orbit the earth? Does earth's gravity has the impact on satellite? I do know that earth's gravity will never be zero and it's gravity is inversely proportional to the distance.I heard that satellites escape earth's gravitational pull when they achieve a speed of 11kmph.How far it is true?</p>

<orbit><gravity><astrophysics>
Satellite's orbit
Praveen Kadambari
# Satellite's orbit

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-03-01)

What is the maximum distance for a satellite to orbit the earth? Does earth's gravity has the impact on satellite? I do know that earth's gravity will never be zero and it's gravity is inversely proportional to the distance.I heard that satellites escape earth's gravitational pull when they achieve a speed of 11kmph.How far it is true?

**Tags:** orbit, gravity, astrophysics

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-03-01. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

Orbits around Earth need to be within its [Hill sphere](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_sphere). Earth's Hill sphere is the region where Earth's gravity field dominates over the gravity fields of Moon and Sun. For Earth the radius of the Hill sphere is about 1.5 million kilometers. But for long-term stability the satellite needs to be well within the Hill sphere, less than half the maximum radius.

The [escape velocity](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_velocity) from Earth's surface is about 11.2 km per second. That's the velocity an objects needs at the surface of Earth, relative to a non-rotating coordinate system, to escape the gravity field of Earth, no atmospheric drag assumed.

The escape velocity is dependent of the distance from Earth's center of gravity, the further away from Earth the slower the escape velocity. Its roughly proporional to the inverse of the square root of the distance from Earth's center, as long as points above Earth's surface are considered.


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