How to Use low earth orbit in a Sentence

low earth orbit

noun
  • More broadly, adding tourists to the mix in low Earth orbit may even help make space safer.
    — Wendy Whitman Cobb, The Conversation, 22 May 2020
  • But the key to that kind of breakthrough may one day be found overhead, in low Earth orbit.
    — Joe Pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, 5 June 2018
  • The clock is currently in low Earth orbit and will power on in four to seven weeks.
    — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, 26 June 2019
  • America should be ready to deny any foe the use of, and access to, low Earth orbit and beyond.
    — Taylor Dinerman, WSJ, 24 June 2018
  • Amazon plans to launch over 3,000 satellites into low earth orbit.
    — Steve Mollman, Fortune, 14 Dec. 2023
  • At present, there are recommendations but few binding rules about how Earth’s low earth orbit is used.
    — Christopher Mims, WSJ, 20 Mar. 2021
  • North Korea after many tries managed to put a couple of satellites into low earth orbit.
    — Bob Gathany, AL.com, 10 Dec. 2017
  • The spacecraft/rocket combo can lift 110 tons of cargo into low earth orbit.
    — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 21 Oct. 2019
  • China has demonstrated the ability to hit a satellite in low Earth orbit with a missile.
    — Christian Davenport, Washington Post, 15 Sep. 2017
  • The rocket is designed to launch payloads up to 1,500 kg in weight into low Earth orbit.
    — Jon Porter, The Verge, 11 July 2019
  • No human being has traveled beyond low Earth orbit since the end of the Apollo missions.
    — Adam Kirsch, WSJ, 28 June 2019
  • The agency has teamed up with such space companies—letting them, among other things, shuttle cargo and crew to low Earth orbit.
    — Sarah Scoles, The Atlantic, 6 Oct. 2017
  • In stark contrast, the ISS is in low earth orbit, at an altitude of about 254 miles.
    — Fox News, 9 June 2020
  • For about $10 million, Virgin will launch payloads weighing up to half a ton into low Earth orbit.
    — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 4 June 2018
  • The nature of low Earth orbit means that even debris pieces residing above the ISS could still pose a threat.
    — Avery Thompson, Popular Mechanics, 2 Apr. 2019
  • The synthetic aperture radar satellite headed to low Earth orbit will be able to pierce through cloud cover to image the surface of the planet.
    — Jay Bennett, Popular Mechanics, 21 Feb. 2018
  • About 1 hour after launch, the stack of satellites deployed into low Earth orbit at an altitude of 290km.
    — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 31 Jan. 2020
  • The goal is to create a new type of spacecraft that can launch into low Earth orbit on short-notice – days instead of months or years – and cost less than traditional space programs.
    — Rebecca Santana, The Christian Science Monitor, 3 July 2018
  • The Phantom Express will launch its upper stage to deploy small satellites into low Earth orbit and then land on a runway to be prepared for its next flight.
    — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 15 June 2018
  • Launching a kilogram payload to low earth orbit (LEO) currently costs at least $3000.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 10 Apr. 2018
  • While the details remain classified, the goal is to build and launch a network of hundreds of spy satellites—or maybe more—with specialized intelligence payloads into low earth orbit.
    — Literary Hub, 28 Oct. 2025
  • And then, of course, there's the International Space Station, which has been flying in low earth orbit since 1998.
    — Alex Stuckey, Houston Chronicle, 19 July 2019
  • SpaceX is far ahead, and operates the world’s largest network of satellites in low earth orbit through Starlink, which powers satellite internet services under the same brand name.
    — Lora Kolodny, CNBC, 6 Dec. 2025
  • The messy backstory The last time humans left low Earth orbit was 1972, when the last Apollo astronauts returned from the moon.
    — Jason Davis, NBC News, 11 June 2019
  • Blue Origin plans to use the engine on its New Glenn rocket, a reusable, heavy-lift rocket to carry satellites and crew to low Earth orbit and beyond.
    — Jay Bennett, Popular Mechanics, 19 Oct. 2017
  • The missile rose into low Earth orbit, about 500 miles above Earth’s surface, and appeared to close in on an aging Chinese weather satellite.
    — Garrett M. Graff, WIRED, 26 June 2018
  • Over these three years, the Space Force has been gaining new and valuable operational experience in low earth orbit (LEO).
    — Charles Beames, Forbes.com, 26 Aug. 2025
  • But the highest density of objects can be found in low Earth orbit — within 1,240 miles of our planet — which is the area China targeted in its test.
    — Rick Noack, Washington Post, 29 Mar. 2018
  • Florida's early morning sky was home to more than just the sun on Wednesday, March 4, as SpaceX launched yet another rocket into low earth orbit.
    — Amaris Encinas, USA Today, 4 Mar. 2026
  • By pioneering reusable boosters that can land autonomously, the company slashed launch costs and ramped up its launch cadence—suddenly making low earth orbit more accessible to a broad range of customers.
    — Jason Ma, Fortune, 12 June 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'low earth orbit.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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