MikoInSpaceBlog

What is an orbit?

An orbit is a regular, repeating path that one object in space takes around another one.

It is achieved by going (In earths case) over the atmosphere and achieving a speed that “outruns” the gravitational pull, making you do circles around the earth.

Sometimes orbits are completely circular, othertimes they’re elliptical.

What is a Geostationary Orbit?

A Geostationary orbit is when the object that is orbiting the planet always stays at the same spot from the planets perspective.

How is a Geostationary Orbit Achieved?

A Geostationary Orbit is Achieved by being exactly 35,786 km over the equator.

At this altitude, a satellite’s orbital period matches Earth’s rotation period of approximately 23 hours and 56 minutes.

Usecases

The most common usecase of a Geostationary Orbit is either a Meteorological satellite or a communications satellite.

Even amateurs can receive signals from Meteorological Satellites in geostationary orbit, like for example the GOES series of satellites.

This has been an MIS Blog Post.