Objective comparison between GEO and NGSO

The choice of orbit is one of the most fundamental decisions in the design of a satellite system, with direct implications for performance, cost, and complexity.

GEO systems, at an altitude of approximately 36,000 km, have high latency (240 ms), which makes them less suitable for highly interactive real-time applications and requires powerful transmitters and precise position maintenance. MEOs, between 2,000 and 36,000 km, have moderate latency and require satellite-to-satellite transfers (handoffs), while LEOs, at 500-2,000 km, offer low latency (50 ms), but require the management of large constellations to ensure global coverage and more frequent transfers than MEOs, thereby increasing network complexity.

The lifespan of NGSO satellites is much shorter than that of GEO satellites, which means they need to be replaced regularly and incur...