How to match table values to variables?

I am trying to write a function is which I solve for the work to but a satellite in orbit. The desired orbit is an input, so I have the variable named 'al' for altitude. Using this variable, I would import a table that lists three orbits and based off the input value, it would tell which orbit the satellite would be in. I am trying to solve this without hardcoding for the values (e.g. if 160<al<2000 - disp('orbit is low earth'), because then the imporation of the table would be useless.

Here's the code I have so far:

function thrust(ms,al)         % setting up how the function will called with its parameters
% everything is in SI units
if al < 160                             % The lowest satellit orbit is roughly 160km above Earth
    disp('Altitude is too low, please choose a higher orbit.')
elseif  al >  405000                   % The farthest a satellite can orbit earth is 405000km above Earth
    disp('Altitude is too high, please choose a lower orbit.')
else
%-------------------------------------------------------------------------
%This is the section where the code to solve for thrust, work, etc. is, so
%it is not relevant to the question.
%-------------------------------------------------------------------------
T = readtable('sat_table.xlsx') % create table T from sat_table.xlsx (visible)
T.Altitude;                     % drawing out altitude value column
                                % figure out a way to compare al to values in column
%-------------------------------------------------------------------------
end
end

The table in question:

             Satellite                  Orbit          Altitude
    ___________________________    ________________    ________

    {'GOES, TV, Telephone'    }    {'High Earth'  }     35780  
    {'Satellites like GPS'    }    {'Medium Earth'}      2000  
    {'Most General Satellites'}    {'Low Earth'   }       160  

Answer 1

[Walter Roberson]

als = T.Altitude;
orbits = categorical(T.Orbit);
[als, idx] = sort(als);
orbits = orbits(idx);

Now you can discretize with the 'categorical' option.

... but watch out for the boundary conditions.

[Nathan]

Thank you !