Very low Earth orbit

Launch costs are reduced because the rocket does not have to travel as high to place its payload into VLEO orbit. Less travel equals less fuel, which means more space for cargo. More cargo means more revenue per launch. Additionally, companies like SpaceX are reusing many of the rocket parts resulting in additional savings. Launch costs which were about $66,000/kg ($30,000/lb) for NASA's Space Shuttle in the early 2000s, are now as low as $2600/kg ($1200/lb) with the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch in 2023.[8]

Roughly defined as a measurement of all power gains and losses in a communication system.[9] With satellites, the process of transmitting from the Earth to the satellite is known as the uplink, and from the satellite to the Earth as the downlink. The difference between the power sent at one end and received at the other end is known as transmission loss. Since the power density of the radio waves decreases with the square of distance between the transmitter and receiver, primarily due to spreading of the electromagnetic energy in space according to the inverse square law, the closer the satellite is to Earth, the less power required to get a signal to either Earth or satellite, and the better the link budget.  This improved link budget can be used for either lower power at the same data rate, higher data rate at the same power, or a combination of both.  Smaller and/or more powerful transmitters can be either ground based, satellite based, or both.

If VLEO orbits are sufficiently low, they are essentially self-cleaning, solving the significant problem of space debris. Because both gravitational pull and atmospheric drag are greater in VLEO than in higher orbits, vehicles in VLEO will remain there until either their propulsion runs out, or they are resupplied with fuel. Once propulsion ends, smaller vehicles will burn up on reentry, while larger ones will burn up and/or break up, potentially creating hazards to the Earth and inhabitants below.[10][11]

Fuel consumption increases exponentially the closer to Earth the orbit is. The International Space Station (ISS) originally orbited at an average of 350 km (217 mi) from Earth, but was boosted to an average of 400 km (248 mi) in 2011.[13] This allowed the ISS to go from an average fuel use of 8,600 kg per year to 3,600 kg per year. Moving the ISS an average of 50 km (21 mi) higher, from 350 to 400 km, resulted in the reduction of annual fuel usage by 58%. The ISS now requires re-boosting only a few times a year due to orbital decay.

There is the residual atmosphere in VLEO creating significant drag on satellites planning to maintain orbit. Unlike the ISS on the border of VLEO/LEO orbits that is resupplied with fuel to counteract gravity and drag, once most larger LEO and GEO spacecraft achieve orbit, they require little or no propulsion to maintain orbit. Smaller satellites such as micro and nano satellites are not built for fuel resupply, and must carry their own, or develop it from available resources. To this end a number of companies and governments are developing engines utilizing different concepts for propulsion in VLEO. The company Kreios Space is developing an air breathing propulsion system for VLEO satellites,[14] whereas Skeyeon has a patent on an propulsion system using a self-sustaining ion engine.[15] The drag of the residual atmosphere also calls for improved aerodynamic spacecraft design. Current designs of a large square object in orbit with huge solar panels attached, characteristics of many higher altitude orbital space craft, will not function in VLEO.

Additionally, satellites in VLEO are exposed to very high levels of elemental oxygen,[16] also known as atomic oxygen (AO), a highly reactive form of oxygen that corrodes most substances quickly.[17] This requires the use of special coatings to protect objects and equipment in this orbit. In VLEO orbit, estimates are that up to 96% of the atmosphere is AO.[18] At VLEO altitudes, the total amount of O atoms rises exponentially the lower the altitude, and is orders of magnitude greater than that encountered by the ISS at 400 km altitude. Any vehicle spending more than a month in a VLEO orbit will require special coatings and protection, or corrode quickly. Materials have been developed[19] for VLEO use that simultaneously provides two key benefits: protection from AO damage, and an atomically smooth outer surface that scatters AO atoms elastically, resulting in half the drag of traditional materials that promote diffuse scattering of incident oxygen and other atoms. Such materials can extend the lifetime of a VLEO satellite by reducing corrosion and reducing drag.