LEO/MEO/HEO constellations

Satellites divide by orbit: GEO slots hold fixed positions over the equator, while LEO (low Earth), MEO (medium Earth) and HEO (highly elliptical) orbits put spacecraft on moving ground tracks. Fleets of dozens to thousands of such satellites working together are constellations, and their motion means coverage calculations must be done per instant rather than per slot.

The SatBeams Satellite Coverage & Channel Database states its scope as 'all GEO slots plus LEO/MEO/HEO constellations', with an estimated size of '500+ GEO satellites plus full LEO/MEO/HEO populations'. Constellation tracking is refreshed hourly, per the record's 'constellation-tracking' tag and 'hourly constellation updates' note.

Tracking directories complement it: both N2YO Live Real-Time Satellite Tracking Directory and the N2YO REST API v1 carry 'starlink' and 'oneweb' tags - the two mega-constellation names most users encounter first.

Constellation membership changes weekly - launches add spacecraft, deorbiting removes them - so a static snapshot of a moving-target fleet is wrong within weeks. Hourly updates, as SatBeams applies to constellation tracking, are what keep channel and coverage planning honest for operators working across both fixed GEO slots and roaming fleets.

Buyers should also match orbit coverage to use case. Dish alignment and transponder booking live in the GEO world, where 500+ tracked satellites suffice; broadband availability analysis, interference studies and ground-station scheduling need the LEO/MEO/HEO populations that Starlink and OneWeb dominate. A dataset claiming only GEO coverage cannot answer questions about a constellation whose entire premise is motion. Real-time position sources like N2YO fill the operational gap, but check whether you need catalogued fleet metadata, live ephemeris-style tracking, or both.

1. Confirm non-GEO orbits are in scope. SatBeams explicitly covers 'all GEO slots plus LEO/MEO/HEO constellations'; sources silent on orbit families probably track GEO only.

1. Check the update interval. Hourly constellation updates are the stated cadence here; slower refresh risks stale fleet membership during launch campaigns.

1. Look for named mega-constellations. Starlink and OneWeb tags on N2YO's directory and API show the fleets users actually query are represented.

1. Separate catalog metadata from live positions. Fleet composition and real-time tracking answer different questions - decide which you need.

1. Mind the data-access path. An API such as N2YO REST v1 supports automated position polling; browse-only catalogs suit research, not operations.

Entries adjacent to LEO/MEO/HEO constellations:

• geostationary-orbit - the fixed-slot contrast to moving fleets.
• real-time-satellite-tracking - the live-position complement to catalogs.
• tle - the orbital-element format behind position prediction.