What is the difference between a GEO, MEO, and LEO satellite orbit for communication purposes?

GEO (geostationary, 35,786 km): stationary relative to ground, one satellite covers approximately 1/3 of Earth. Advantages: simple ground antenna tracking, continuous coverage with 3 satellites. Disadvantages: high latency (240 ms one-way), high path loss (requires high-power satellites and large ground antennas). Used for: TV broadcast, maritime/aviation communications, fixed broadband. MEO (medium earth orbit, 2,000-35,000 km): used by GPS (20,200 km), O3b/SES (8,062 km). Moderate latency (40-125 ms), moderate constellation size (12-24 satellites for global coverage). Used for: navigation, medium-latency broadband. LEO (low earth orbit, 300-2,000 km): lowest latency (1-4 ms), lowest path loss, but requires large constellations (100-4,000+ satellites) and complex handover. Used for: broadband internet (Starlink, OneWeb, Kuiper), earth observation, IoT.