Low Earth Orbit
In the context of aviation and aerospace, Low Earth Orbit (LEO) refers to an orbit around Earth with an altitude between 160 kilometers (99 miles) and 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles). Satellites and space vehicles in LEO travel at extremely high speeds of approximately 7.8 km/s (28,000 km/h; 17,000 mph). This is the most commonly used orbit for manned and unmanned spacecrafts, as it provides the lowest launch energy requirement and the fastest round-trip communication times with the Earth surface. The International Space Station (ISS) and the Hubble Space Telescope are two notable examples of spacecrafts in LEO. However, the downside of LEO is the atmospheric drag experienced by the spacecrafts, which can cause them to gradually descend and burn up in the Earth's atmosphere if not periodically reboosted.
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