UPSC Civil Services Model Paper 8

Earth satellites are objects which revolve around the earth.
Their motion is very similar to the motion of planets around the Sun and hence Kepler’s laws of planetary motion are equally applicable to them .
In particular, their orbits around the earth are circular or elliptic.
When a satellite is at its farthest point from the earth, it is at the apogee of the orbit. Hence, Statement 2 is incorrect.
When a satellite is at its closest point to the earth , it is at the perigee of the orbit. Hence, Statement 1 is incorrect.
In accordance with Kepler’s second law, the satellites are fastest at the perigee and slowest at the apogee .
There are two important forces acting on the satellite:
the gravitational force which will pull the satellite towards earth and the centrifugal force (due to revolution) which counters the gravitational pull.