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Not with a geostationary orbit. That must have a fixed radius. The problem is that satellites have to move to counteract the force of gravity to avoid falling o
by michaelmior 1y ago
Not with a geostationary orbit. That must have a fixed radius. The problem is that satellites have to move to counteract the force of gravity to avoid falling out of orbit. But if they move too much or too little, then the satellite moves with respect to the earth and the orbit is no longer geostationary.
(Caveat: Not an expert by any means, just someone who had a similar question and did some reading, so my answer may well be incomplete or not fully correct.)
- zwily 1y agoStarlink satellites aren't geostationary.
- michaelmior 1y agoThe parent comment wasn't specifically addressing Starlink.
- tejtm 1y agoThis has already been addressed as LEO is not geostationary but to point as to why. Consider the earths equator rotates at a particular velocity so there is a particular orbital radius where the two cancel and NO energy is needed to fall around the equator at the same rate the equator is moving. That is a geostationary orbit. LEO maxes out ~ 1,200 miles radius, geostationary is at little over over 22,000 miles radius.