Are Satellites in the sky or are they in space?

Question

Are Satellites in the sky or are they in space?

In: Planetary Science

Answer 1

I don’t think the ‘sky’ is a place. Rather, it is the image we see when we look up above anything attached to the ground.

So I’d say the stars (which are much further away than any satellites), and in the sky, as are the sun and moon, because they are part of that image we can see.

i.e. I’d say that satellies are in space, and are visible in the sky.

—

Wikipedia claims that “The Kármán line, an altitude of 100 km (62 mi) above sea level, is conventionally used as the start of outer space in space treaties and for aerospace records keeping.”

A google search suggests that many sattelites are in the 1000’s of km range, so well above that line. Britannica says “Satellites do not orbit below 160 km because they are affected by atmospheric drag.”