What keeps a satellite from falling back to Earth?

Question

A. The satellite must be large enough to have its own gravitational pull.

B. The satellite's horizontal velocity must be large enough.

C. None of these answers are correct.

D. The satellite cannot to be acted upon by Earth’s gravity.

Answer 1

The correct answer is:

B. The satellite's horizontal velocity must be large enough.

A satellite stays in orbit around the Earth due to its horizontal velocity, which is high enough to counterbalance the pull of Earth's gravity. While gravity does act on the satellite, it is the combination of this gravitational pull and the satellite's forward velocity that keeps it in a stable orbit rather than allowing it to fall back to Earth.