3 ms·
I'm curious, at what appears to be GEO (Geostationary Earth Orbit) there is a ring of green "operational" satellites that align with the equator, then there is
by bluehawk 11y ago
I'm curious, at what appears to be GEO (Geostationary Earth Orbit) there is a ring of green "operational" satellites that align with the equator, then there is a "belt" of non-operational satellites that seem to have spread out from them.
1. Is this because the non-operational ones can no longer station keep and slowly spread out?
2. Why are they in a belt shape?
3. Why is the belt not centered on the green ring? They seem to be all "moving" in the same direction? (When I looked at it, their orbits tend to "dip" south while above the western hemisphere and north while above eastern hemisphere)
- Florin_Andrei 11y agoThe belt shape is an aggregate. Each individual orbit's plane must contain the Earth's center. So the "belt" is an aggregate of many orbits at various inclinations relative to the equator.
- ianburrell 11y agoGeostationary satellites are boosted into a graveyard orbit at the end of their lives.
- lloyd-christmas 11y agoI believe it's due to the point of ascension changing. With the earth tilting at 23.5 degrees, a GEO orbit also has to be at that angle relative to the sun. Once they are no longer operational, they will stay at that 23.5 degree angle, but the point of ascension will drift as the altitude (and therefore the orbital period) changes.