{"id":3470,"date":"2026-02-19T11:27:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T10:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esa-schoolatlas.eu\/esa-schoolatlas\/?post_type=glossary&#038;p=3470"},"modified":"2026-02-19T11:27:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T10:27:08","slug":"elliptical-orbit","status":"publish","type":"glossary","link":"https:\/\/esa-schoolatlas.eu\/esa-schoolatlas\/glossary\/elliptical-orbit\/","title":{"rendered":"elliptical orbit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Bodies in space <a class=\"glossaryLink\"  title=\"Glossary: orbit\"  aria-describedby=\"tt\"  data-cmtooltip=\"&lt;div class=glossaryItemTitle&gt;orbit&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;div class=glossaryItemBody&gt;The path described by a heavenly body in its periodic revolution. Earth satellite orbits with inclinations near 0&deg; are called equatorial orbits because the satellite stays nearly over the equator. Orbits with inclinations near 90&deg; are called polar orbits because the satellite crosses nearly over the north and south poles.&lt;\/div&gt;\"  href=\"https:\/\/esa-schoolatlas.eu\/esa-schoolatlas\/glossary\/orbit\/\"  target=\"_blank\"  data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]'  tabindex='0' role='link'>orbit<\/a> in elliptical rather than circular orbits because of factors such as gravity and drag. The point where the orbiting <a class=\"glossaryLink\" title=\"Glossary: satellite\" aria-describedby=\"tt\" data-cmtooltip=\"&lt;div class=glossaryItemTitle&gt;satellite&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;div class=glossaryItemBody&gt;A free-flying object orbiting the Earth, another planet, or the sun.&lt;\/div&gt;\" href=\"https:\/\/esa-schoolatlas.eu\/esa-schoolatlas\/glossary\/satellite\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">satellite<\/a> is closest to Earth is the <a class=\"glossaryLink\" title=\"Glossary: perigee\" aria-describedby=\"tt\" data-cmtooltip=\"&lt;div class=glossaryItemTitle&gt;perigee&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;div class=glossaryItemBody&gt;On an elliptical orbit path, the point where a satellite is closest to the Earth.&lt;\/div&gt;\" href=\"https:\/\/esa-schoolatlas.eu\/esa-schoolatlas\/glossary\/perigee\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">perigee<\/a>, the point where the satellite is farthest from Earth is called <a class=\"glossaryLink\" title=\"Glossary: apogee\" aria-describedby=\"tt\" data-cmtooltip=\"&lt;div class=glossaryItemTitle&gt;apogee&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;div class=glossaryItemBody&gt;Point of the elliptic orbit of a satellite where its distance from the Earth is maximal.&lt;\/div&gt;\" href=\"https:\/\/esa-schoolatlas.eu\/esa-schoolatlas\/glossary\/apogee\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">apogee<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bodies in space orbit in elliptical rather than circular orbits because of factors such as gravity and drag. The point where the orbiting satellite is closest to Earth is the perigee, the point where the satellite is farthest from Earth is called apogee.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3470","glossary","type-glossary","status-publish","hentry"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.0","language":"en","enabled_languages":["en","es","de","fr","it"],"languages":{"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"es":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false},"de":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false},"fr":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false},"it":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>elliptical orbit - ESA Schoolatlas<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/esa-schoolatlas.eu\/esa-schoolatlas\/glossary\/elliptical-orbit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"elliptical orbit - 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