Which type of signal delay is reduced by using low-earth orbit satellites?

Low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites are positioned much closer to Earth compared to geostationary satellites, typically at altitudes ranging from about 160 to 2,000 kilometers. This proximity significantly reduces the latency delay experienced in communications.

Latency delay refers to the time it takes for a signal to travel from the sender to the receiver. Because LEO satellites reduce the distance that signals must travel, the round trip time for signals is minimized. In contrast, geostationary satellites, which orbit at approximately 35,786 kilometers above the Earth, introduce higher latency due to the longer distance signals must cover, resulting in delays that can exceed 500 milliseconds.

By utilizing low-earth orbit satellites, the latency delay can be substantially reduced, thereby improving the responsiveness of systems that rely on real-time communication, such as satellite internet services and other applications requiring quick data transfer.

Other types of delays, like frequency delay and data processing delay, are not directly influenced by the altitude of the satellites. Frequency delay pertains to the characteristics of the signal itself, while data processing delay is related to how quickly a system can process the received data. Signal propagation delay, while influenced by distance, is specifically accounted for within the larger context of latency delay