ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Low Earth orbit

Okay kiddo, do you know what Earth is? It's the planet we live on! And did you know that there are things called satellites that go around Earth in space? They do helpful things like let us watch TV and use the internet even when we're far away from cities.

Low Earth orbit is where most of those satellites go. It's kind of like a highway around Earth, where satellites can zoom around and do their jobs. It's called "low" because it's closer to Earth than other parts of space.

To explain it simply, imagine you're playing with marbles on a big trampoline, and you're trying to make them go around you. If you throw them super high, they'll go really far away and you'll have to run all over to catch them. But if you just toss them softly, they'll stay closer and you can easily catch them when they come back around. That's kind of how satellites work in low Earth orbit - they stay close enough to Earth that we can communicate with and control them easily.

Low Earth orbit is also important because it's where the International Space Station (ISS) is located. That's the big space station where astronauts live and do experiments. Think of it like a really cool floating house in space!

So, that's low Earth orbit - a spot in space where satellites and the ISS hang out, close enough to Earth to do useful stuff and communicate with us back on the ground.