Do Satellites Move Faster Than The Earth. Its velocity the speed it takes to travel in a straight line and the gravitational pull that earth has on it. At the zenith they move 1 4 and 0 4 degrees per second respectively and drop a factor of 10 in rate or more as they approach the horizon. The orbital velocity of the satellite depends on its altitude above earth.
Looking at satellites between 300 and 1000 km altitude that happen to pass overhead they definitely move the fastest when overead and slow way down. Surveyor type satellites move much faster as they circle the globe in about 90 minutes or so.
Counterintuitively a satellite closer in from geostationary orbit must travel faster than the earth s surface in order to stay aloft to keep missing the earth as the lower altitude causes it to fall faster toward it by the inverse square law.
At an altitude of 124 miles 200 kilometers the required orbital velocity is a little more than 17 000 mph about 27 400 kph. Communications satellites also travel faster because they are. This slows down gps satellite clocks by a small fraction of a second similar to the airplane example above. Looking at satellites between 300 and 1000 km altitude that happen to pass overhead they definitely move the fastest when overead and slow way down.
