{"id":3719,"date":"2026-02-19T12:41:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T11:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esa-schoolatlas.eu\/esa-schoolatlas\/?post_type=glossary&#038;p=3719"},"modified":"2026-02-19T12:41:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T11:41:15","slug":"polar-orbit","status":"publish","type":"glossary","link":"https:\/\/esa-schoolatlas.eu\/esa-schoolatlas\/glossary\/polar-orbit\/","title":{"rendered":"polar orbit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>An <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> with an orbital <a class=\"glossaryLink\" title=\"Glossary: inclination\" aria-describedby=\"tt\" data-cmtooltip=\"&lt;div class=glossaryItemTitle&gt;inclination&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;div class=glossaryItemBody&gt;The angle between a satellite orbit and the equator.&lt;\/div&gt;\" href=\"https:\/\/esa-schoolatlas.eu\/esa-schoolatlas\/glossary\/inclination\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">inclination<\/a> of near 90&#xB0; where the satel&#xAC;lite <a class=\"glossaryLink\" title=\"Glossary: ground track\" aria-describedby=\"tt\" data-cmtooltip=\"&lt;div class=glossaryItemTitle&gt;ground track&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;div class=glossaryItemBody&gt;The inclination of a satellite, together with its orbital altitude and the period of its orbit, creates a track defined by an imaginary line connecting the satellite and the Earth&#x2019;s centre.&lt;\/div&gt;\" href=\"https:\/\/esa-schoolatlas.eu\/esa-schoolatlas\/glossary\/ground-track\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">ground track<\/a> will cross both polar regions once during each orbit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An orbit with an orbital inclination of near 90&#xB0; where the satel&#xAC;lite ground track will cross both polar regions once during each orbit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3719","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 - 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