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A comment on Lockheed is now tracking phones and walkie-talkies from space. Parent comment

Re:Lockheed is now tracking phones and walkie-talkies from s... by dylan604 on Saturday November 18, 2023 @03:31PM (#38324049)
What purpose does the highly elliptical orbits provide that a more circular orbit doesn't? Does it allow higher resolution when it swings in closer, and that the higher orbit is over parts of the globe of little interest?
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Re:Lockheed is now tracking phones and walkie-talkies from s... by sheepshear on Saturday November 18, 2023 @03:39PM (#38324124)
Historically, it's for dwelling over the interesting long side and rushing past the uninteresting short side.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molniya_orbit

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Re:Lockheed is now tracking phones and walkie-talkies from s... by jon_richards on Saturday November 18, 2023 @03:33PM (#38324069)
I think it's usually the opposite. The satellite spends much more time observing interesting stuff in the higher part of the orbit and much less time zipping by uninteresting stuff in the lower part.
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Re:Lockheed is now tracking phones and walkie-talkies from s... by dylan604 on Saturday November 18, 2023 @04:29PM (#38324679)
that does make sense. US targets of interests do tend to be northern hemisphere oriented.
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Re:Lockheed is now tracking phones and walkie-talkies from s... by elteto on Saturday November 18, 2023 @03:33PM (#38324071)
Probably higher resolution over more desirable areas as well as more stable orbits.
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Re:Lockheed is now tracking phones and walkie-talkies from s... by plasticchris on Saturday November 18, 2023 @07:39PM (#38326868)
Look at where the sats dwell, mostly over the North Pole. Now think about the great circle routes between the USA and the USSR.
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