means An object that orbits a larger one — either a natural body like a moon or an artificial machine launched to circle a planet.

from From Latin satelles, satellitis, meaning 'attendant' or 'bodyguard' — the hangers-on who escorted an important person everywhere. The astronomer Johannes Kepler borrowed the word in the early 17th century to describe the moons trailing Jupiter, which similarly seemed to attend their planet like loyal retainers. The 'man-made object in orbit' sense is a 20th-century extension, made household by the launch of Sputnik in 1957.