Spiral and Elliptical Orbits

Extract

An Artificial Satellite set to start on a circular orbit round the Earth, will have to be given a known velocity, at right angles to the radius vector, which depends upon its distance from the Earth's centre.

It will, from the start, begin to spiral downwards towards the Earth, owing to the resistance of the atmosphere, but if it begins its path at a sufficiently high altitude, the decrease of height after one revolution will be small.

Should the initial “ tangential ” velocity be greater than the value calculated for a circular orbit, the satellite will, according to the text books, describe an ellipse instead of a circle; and, if at a sufficient distance for the air resistance to be at first ignored, will return after one revolution to the distance at which it started, this point being the perigee of the ellipse. It will never return to a point outside the starting point.