Inclination is the tilt between a satellite's orbital plane and the equator. It determines which latitudes the satellite passes over — and shapes everything from coverage maps to the sinusoidal ground tracks you see on Orbital Radar.
Inclination is the tilt between a satellite's orbital plane and the equator. It determines which latitudes the satellite passes over — and shapes everything from coverage maps to the sinusoidal ground tracks you see on Orbital Radar.
Inclination is measured from 0° (equatorial) to 180° (equatorial but retrograde). For a circular orbit, the satellite never passes over a latitude higher than its inclination.
Different missions need different inclinations. GEO satellites want to hover over one equatorial spot (0°). Earth observation needs global coverage (polar). The ISS compromises at 51.6° — covering most populated latitudes while remaining reachable from multiple launch sites.
A ground track is the path traced on Earth's surface directly below the satellite. Because Earth rotates beneath a fixed orbital plane, the track shifts westward on each pass — creating the classic sinusoidal shape on a flat map.
Higher inclination means higher altitude
Inclination and altitude are completely independent. You can have a low-altitude polar orbit or a high-altitude equatorial one.
All satellites orbit west to east
Most do (prograde, i < 90°). But sun-synchronous orbits at ~98° are technically retrograde — they move east to west relative to the ground.
Together, these two independent effects explain every ground track shape you'll see on Orbital Radar. Inclination is locked at launch — the rest follows from physics.