HEO
Science & Engineering abbreviation · Astronomy & Space
| Stands for | Highly elliptical orbit |
|---|---|
| Categories | Science & Engineering |
HEO stands for Highly elliptical orbit, an astronomy & Space abbreviation.
Elongated orbit with a low perigee and a very high apogee, in which a satellite moves slowly near apogee and spends hours over one region. Russia's Molniya orbits use HEO to provide coverage of high northern latitudes that geostationary satellites cannot see well.
Example: The satellite's HEO lets it dwell over the Arctic for about eight hours per orbit.
Usage notes
Molniya orbits have a period of about 12 hours and an inclination of 63.4 degrees, which keeps the apogee from drifting. HEO is also used by some space telescopes and scientific missions. Confusingly, some sources expand HEO as high Earth orbit, meaning any orbit above geostationary altitude.
Related abbreviations
More astronomy & Space abbreviations
- FAST – Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope
- FRB – Fast radio burst
- GEO – Geostationary orbit
- GRB – Gamma-ray burst
- GTO – Geosynchronous transfer orbit
- H0 – Hubble constant
- HR diagram – Hertzsprung-Russell diagram
- HST – Hubble Space Telescope
- HZ – Habitable zone
- IAU – International Astronomical Union
- ISRO – Indian Space Research Organisation
- ISS – International Space Station