Medium Earth orbit

[3] Other perturbing forces include: Earth's albedo, navigation antenna thrust, and thermal effects related to heat re-radiation.

The MEO region includes the two zones of energetic charged particles above the equator known as the Van Allen radiation belts, which can damage satellites’ electronic systems without special shielding.

[1] Communications satellites in MEO include the O3b and O3b mPOWER constellations for low-latency broadband and data backhaul to maritime, aero and remote locations (with an altitude of 8,063 kilometres, 5,010 mi).

The SES Cruise mPOWERED + Starlink service will use SES's O3b mPOWER MEO satellites and SpaceX's Starlink LEO system to provide cruise ship passengers with internet, social media and video calls at up to 3 Gbps per ship anywhere in the World.

Subsequently, in February 2024, SES announced that Virgin Voyages will be the first cruise line to deploy the service.

Clickable image, highlighting medium altitude orbits around Earth , [ a ] from Low Earth to the lowest High Earth orbit ( geostationary orbit and its graveyard orbit , at one ninth of the Moon's orbital distance ), [ b ] with the Van Allen radiation belts and the Earth to scale
To-scale diagram of low, medium, and high Earth orbits
Space of Medium Earth orbits (MEO) as pink area, with Earth and the distance of the orbit of the Moon for reference and to scale.
A camera photo of Earth from a distance of 29,400 kilometers (18,300 miles), a distance of higher medium Earth orbits (uncropped and unrotated The Blue Marble image, from Apollo 17 during lunar transfer).
Infographic showing the space debris situation extending from low Earth orbit, across medium Earth orbits, until the lowest high Earth orbits.