Back Geostasionêre wentelbaan Afrikaans Orbita cheoestacionaria AN مدار جغرافي ثابت Arabic Órbita xeoestacionaria AST Geostasionar orbit Azerbaijani Геастацыянарная арбіта Byelorussian Геастацыянарная арбіта BE-X-OLD Геостационарна орбита Bulgarian ভূস্থির কক্ষপথ Bengali/Bangla Orbitenn geoarsavel Breton

Geostationary orbit

Geostationary orbit.To someone on Earth, each satellite appears to stay in one place in the sky. Looking down at the North Pole
Geostationary orbit.To an observer on the rotating Earth (green dot on the blue sphere), the purple and red satellites appears to stay in one place in the sky.
Side view of 2 satellites of Earth
A 5 x 6 degrees view of a part of the geostationary belt, showing several geostationary satellites. Those above the equator form a diagonal belt across the image: a few objects with small inclinations to the equator are visible above this line. Note how the satellites are pinpoint, while stars have created small trails due to the Earth's rotation.

A geostationary orbit (or Geostationary Earth Orbit - GEO) is a type of geosynchronous orbit directly above the Earth's equator (0° latitude). Like all geosynchronous orbits, it has a period (time for one orbit) that is 24 hours. This means it goes around the Earth as fast as the Earth spins, and so it appears to stay above the same spot all the time. A person watching from Earth sees a satellite in a geostationary orbit as not moving, at a steady place in the sky.

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