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What is Orbital speed of a satellite? 1. Orbital speed of a satellite is the speed required to put the satellite into orbit. When a satellite (such as moon) revolves in a circular orbit around the earth, a centripetal force acts upon the satellite . This force is actually the gravitational force exerted by the earth on the satellite. Orbital speed of a satellite 2. Suppose a satellite of mass m has to be put circular orbit around the earth at height h above its surface. Consider earth to be a sphere of mass M e  and radius R e . Then radius of the orbit of the satellite will be r (=R e  + h). If v 0  is the required orbital velocity for the satellite, then centripetal force exerted by the earth on the satellite is mv 0 2 /r. 3. Now the gravitational force exerted by the earth on the satellite will be GM e m/r 2 . Because the gravitational force provides the required centripetal force, hence we can write G...