How Far Is Outer Space

The space industry lists 62 miles.

How far is outer space. The number of miles required to reach outer space depends on whom is asked. The top of the atmosphere is considered to be over 6 000 miles. There is no firm boundary where space begins. Determining the boundary of outer space is fraught with scientific and political issues.

Others place the marker at an astronomical 13 million miles. The line owes its name to theodore von karman a hungarian american physicist who was the first to determine that around this altitude the atmosphere became too thin to support. The international space station also orbits in this layer between 320 and 380 km 200 and 240 mi and needs to be constantly boosted because friction with the atmosphere still occurs. The airspace above a given country is generally considered part of that country.

If space is defined as beginning at 62 miles and the u s. Outer space on the other hand is for everyone. Nasa sets the boundary at 76 miles. However the kármán line at an altitude of 100 km 62 mi above sea level is conventionally used as the start of outer space in space treaties and for aerospace records keeping.

Outer space on the other hand is for everyone. The karman line is an imaginary boundary that lies 100 kilometers above earth and is widely considered the boundary between the outer space and earth s atmosphere. The airspace above a given country is generally considered part of that country.