Earth orbit

Navigation
Sol System: Earth: orbit

Overview
Earth orbit is loosely defined as any place far enough out of Earth's atmosphere so as to be able to circle Earth one or more times without being de-orbited by atmospheric drag (approx. 200 km or 120 miles) yet not so far away from Earth as to be more strongly influenced by other bodies such as Luna or Sol.

Earth orbit is generally divided into the following areas:
 * low Earth orbit, or LEO
 * geosynchronous orbit, or GEO
 * is there a term for orbits between GEO and the L-points?
 * Earth-Luna L points (L1-L5)

Pages

 * space-based solar power would most likely involve solar satellites in Earth orbit
 * space elevator: a means of reaching orbit using far less energy per weight than rockets do, now theoretically possible with available materials

Issues

 * spacedebate.org (wiki/forum): the weaponization of space

Aerospace Companies

 * Armadillo Aerospace (Mesquite, TX ): several working experimental vehicles developed on a budget of about $250k; site has multiple videos of vehicles in action
 * Bigelow Aerospace
 * Orion Propulsion (Madison, AL)
 * XCOR Aerospace (Mojave CA, at the Mojave Air and Space Port )

Books

 * Leaving the Planet by Space Elevator by Bradley C. Edwards Ph.D. and Phil Ragan (November 2006); Foreword by Arthur C. Clarke

In Development

 * LiftPort: "The Space Elevator Companies", plans to reach geosynchronous orbit using carbon nanotubes (see Nanotechnology) on 2018-04-12
 * Space Exploration Technologies: "revolutionizing access to space"
 * 2006-02-24 slashdot
 * X Prize Cup: exposition (held in New Mexico) promoting development of space exporation technology

Present

 * 2006-07-12- Genesis I

Past

 * Project Mercury

Space Tourism

 * 2007.03 Up and Away: "In the latest bid to rocket tourists into orbit, the secretive Blue Origin unveils a flying pod. Is your space voyage sooner than you think?"