Tangential velocities at altitude

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Orbit Center-to-center
distance
Altitude above
the Earth's surface
Speed Orbital period Specific orbital energy
Earth's own rotation at surface on the equator (for compari­son; not an orbit) 6,378 km0 km 465.1 m/s (1,674 km/h or 1,040 mph) 23 h 56 min 4.09 sec−62.6 MJ/kg
Orbiting at Earth's surface (equator) theoretical 6,378 km0 km7.9 km/s (28,440 km/h or 17,672 mph)1 h 24 min 18 sec−31.2 MJ/kg
Low Earth orbit 6,600 – 8,400 km200 – 2,000 km
  • Circular orbit: 7.7–6.9 km/s (27,720–24,840 km/h or 17,224–15,435 mph) respectively
  • Elliptic: 10.07–8.7 km/s respectively
1 h 29 min – 2 h 8 min−29.8 MJ/kg
Molniya orbit 6,900 – 46,300 km500 – 39,900 km1.5–10.0 km/s (5,400–36,000 km/h or 3,335–22,370 mph) respectively11 h 58 min−4.7 MJ/kg
Geostationary 42,000 km35,786 km3.075 km/s (11,070 km/h or 6,879 mph)23 h 56 min 4.09 sec−4.6 MJ/kg
Orbit of the Moon 363,000 – 406,000 km357,000 – 399,000 km0.97–1.08 km/s (3,492–3,888 km/h or 2,170–2,416 mph) respectively27.27 days−0.5 MJ/kg
The lower axis gives orbital speeds of some orbits.