What is Satellite?

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Satellite
A satellite is an object that has been intentionally placed into orbit of planets. Satellites are also called as artificial satellites as they are man made and can be distinguished from the natural satellites which are already present in the orbit of any planet naturally.

What is the purpose of satellites?
The purposes of satellites are:
  • they can be used to make star maps and maps of planetary surfaces.
  • they can also take pictures of that planet they are launched into.

Satellites are usually semi-independent computer-systems .Satellite subsystems attend many tasks such as power generation,thermal control,telemetry,attitude control,scientific instrumentation,communication,etc.

Types of satellites:-

Astronomical satellites:these satellites are used to detect distant planets,galaxies and outer space objects.
Biosatellites:these satellites are designed to convey living organisms, generally for scientific experimentation.
Communication satellites:these satellites are stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications.Modern communications satellites typically use geosynchronous orbits,molniya orbits or low earth orbits.
Earth observation satellites:these satellites are for non-military uses such as environmental monitoring,meteorology,map making,etc.
Navigational satellites:these satellites use radio time signals transmitted to enable small electronic receivers on the ground to know their exact location(longitude,latitude and altitude/elevation.
Killer satellites:these satellites are designed to destroy enemy warheads,satellites and other space assets.
Crewed spacecrafts:they are large satellites which can able to put humans into orbits and can return them to earth with their landing facilities.
Miniaturized satellites:these satellites are unusually low in mass and weight.They are classified according to their mass:minisatellites(500-1000)kg,microsatellites(below 100 kg),nanosatellites(below 10kg).
Reconnaissance satellites:these satellites are deployed for military or intelligence applications.Very little is known the full power of these satellites,as governments  who operate them usually keep pertaining to their reconnaissance satellites classified.
Recovery satellites:these satellites provide recovery of reconnaissance,biological,space-production and other payloads from orbit to Earth.
Space-based solar power:these satellites are designed to collect energy from sunlight and transmit it for use on Earth.
Space stations:they are artificial orbital structures designed for human beings to live in space.Space stations are designed for living in orbit around  weeks,months or even years.
Tether satellites:these satellites are connected to another satellite by a thin cabel of tether.
Weather satellites:these satellites are primarily used to monitor Earth's weather and climate.

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