Earth from high orbit
High orbit, also known as maximum orbit or extended orbit, was the high altitude orbit of an object above a planetary body, entirely above that of a geosynchronous orbit, or the orbital period exceeding the length of a day. For Earth, high orbit altitude was anything greater than 35,786 kilometers.
Starships may maintain a large distance from the planet's surface for safety reasons but is still close enough to use the transporter. (VOY: "Ex Post Facto", "The Omega Directive")
The USS Voyager assumed a high orbit over Earth, when it visited the planet in 1996, at, according to Rain Robinson, an altitude of 20,000 kilometers. (VOY: "Future's End")
Twenty thousand kilometers is generally accepted as medium Earth orbit, specifically semi-synchronous orbit, where Voyager would have realistically orbited Earth once every twelve hours.
In anticipation of the blast from the detonation of antimatter used to kill the dikironium cloud creature on Tycho IV, the USS Enterprise moved out to maximum orbit, holding at a range of 30,000 kilometers. (TOS: "Obsession")
After time traveling to 1968 Earth, the Enterprise used deflector shields to remain unobserved while in extended orbit. (TOS: "Assignment: Earth")
The USS Enterprise-D entered a high orbit over Indri VIII in 2369. (TNG: "The Chase")
| Orbits |
|---|
| Circular orbit • Decaying orbit • Elliptical orbit • Equatorial orbit • High orbit • Low orbit • Polar orbit • Standard orbit • Stationary orbit • Sub-orbit • Synchronous orbit |
| Lagrange point • Tidal locking |