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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geostationary_orbit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geostationary_orbit
by numbol 3y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geostationary_orbit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geostationary_orbit
- renjimen 3y agoI thought the same, but they're actually below geostationary orbit. They have 12 hour orbits. Also, they don't orbit the equator, which is required for a geostationary orbit. See my comment above with more details.
- numbol 3y agowow that is cool! Thank you for that clarification looks like geostationary used for stuff like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasi-Zenith_Satellite_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasi-Zenith_Satellite_System
- mardifoufs 3y agoI think this article, that most here have probably read or heard about considering how popular it was on HN, explains why quite well! It is a very long article though (which is awesome, imo!). The whole thing is an incredible primer on GPS .
- crote 3y agoGeostationary orbit wouldn't work for a GNSS: all satellites would be in the same plane, so it would be impossible to distinguish between the northern and southern hemisphere. This would render it inconvenient in most countries and unusable anywhere near the equator.
- danw1979 3y agoRelated: an inclined geosynchronous orbit uses similar altitudes to GEO, allowing focussed coverage on specific longitudes, as seen with QZSS - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasi-Zenith_Satellite_System https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasi-Zenith_Satellite_Syste... (albeit these are slightly elliptical)