Applications include Earth observation, radar, infrared, weather, telecommunications, and rural internet access among others.
[3] In June 2021, the “1st International Symposium on VLEO Missions and Technologies”,[4] with almost 200 registered attendees from industry, academia, space agencies and government.
[7][8] The benefits of satellites operating in VLEO are many fold,[9] including; inherently higher satellite performance; substantially lower launch and operating costs; communication payloads with significantly better link budgets; and creating self-cleaning orbits, essentially solving the significant problem of space debris.
Since the power density of the radio waves decreases with the square of distance between the transmitter and receiver, primarily due to spreading of the electromagnetic energy in space according to the inverse square law, the closer the satellite is to Earth, the less power required to get a signal to either Earth or satellite, and the better the link budget.
If VLEO orbits are sufficiently low, they are essentially self-cleaning, solving the significant problem of space debris.
[citation needed] There is the residual atmosphere in VLEO creating significant drag on satellites planning to maintain orbit.
To this end a number of companies and governments are developing engines utilizing different concepts for propulsion in VLEO.
This means that the air breathing electric propulsion system can produce enough thrust to counteract drag in the upper atmosphere, allowing spacecraft to operate sustainably in VLEO below 200 km.
Any vehicle spending more than a month in a VLEO orbit will require special coatings and protection, or corrode quickly.
[25] Satellite owners are now required to submit deorbit plans with their launch proposals, to help eliminate additional space junk.
This most likely will include reserving propellant to initiate deorbit, increasing either launch costs to carry more fuel, or decreasing mission life.