Geostationary Orbit - A Whole View of Earth

If you want to see the entire Earth as a whole, floating freely, you have to move your location from the low altitudes of low Earth orbits further into space. From many 1000 km, the Earth begins to fill a significantly smaller part of the field of view. Two types of orbits have established themselves for satellites at such great heights – the geostationary orbit and elongated elliptical orbits. In the latter, a satellite orbits the Earth on a highly elliptical path. The point closest to Earth (perigee) is a few hundred kilometers above the Earth’s surface, the farthest (apogee) several 10,000 kilometers. According to Kepler’s laws, a satellite on this path moves fastest near the Earth and slowest at the apogee. Therefore, in the Earth-distant part of the orbit, the Earth remains in view for a long time.