An elliptical or elliptic orbit was an orbit were a smaller object moved around a larger object in an oval-shaped path, such as an object found in a geosynchronous orbit.
In the late 2020s, during the Europa Mission, the Shango X-1 was in an elliptical orbit around Jupiter as it studied the environment of Europa. (PIC: "Two of One")
When the USS Enterprise approached Terra 10, Captain James T. Kirk had the ship set for a single elliptic orbit. (TAS: "The Terratin Incident")
Vandor IV was detected to be "a planetoid in elliptical orbit around the binary system." (TNG: "We'll Always Have Paris")
Debris from the Earth shuttle Charybdis was discovered in an elliptical orbit above Theta VIII in 2365. (TNG: "The Royale")
In 2371, the quantum singularity from a cloaked Romulan D'deridex-class warbird was detected orbiting Deep Space 9 in a "roughly elliptical fashion". The station's crew was able to track the singularity by using its tetryon emissions as a guide, and found that at certain points in its orbit, the singularity radiated temporal energy at a specific wavelength that caused Miles O'Brien to experience random time shifts into the future. (DS9: "Visionary")
| Orbits |
|---|
| Circular orbit • Decaying orbit • Elliptical orbit • Equatorial orbit • High orbit • Low orbit • Polar orbit • Standard orbit • Stationary orbit • Sub-orbit • Synchronous orbit |
| Lagrange point • Tidal locking |