Question

What forces cause a satellite to stay in orbit around Earth?

Answer 1

Mainly, it s the Earth's centripetal force of attraction towards its center,. The magnitudes of such attractions, from close-by Earth-orbiter Luna and the far distant Sun, are negligible.

Explanation:

Initially, the satellite is pushed into an orbit around the Earth with some angular speed, along the tangent to the desired nearly-circular-orbit. Afterwards, there is no need for any fuel for the orbital motion of the satellite, unless some orbit correction is necessary..

This centripetal force generates the centripetal acceleration that is required to move the satellite almost perpendicular to the radius from the center. . ,