Satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) with high ballistic coefficients experience smaller perturbations to their orbits due to atmospheric drag. The ballistic coefficient of an atmospheric reentry vehicle has a significant effect on its behavior. A very high ballistic coefficient vehicle would lose velocity very slowly and would impact the Earth's surface at higher speeds. In contrast, a low ballistic coefficient would reach subsonic speeds before reaching the ground. In general, reentry vehicles that carry human beings back to Earth from space have high drag and a correspondingly low ballistic coefficient. Vehicles that carry nuclear weapons launched by an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), by contrast, have a high ballistic coefficient, which enables them to travel rapidly from space to a target on land. That makes the weapon less affected by crosswinds or other weather phenomena, and harder to track, intercept, or otherwise defend against.