{"id":6095,"date":"2014-01-17T16:31:41","date_gmt":"2014-01-17T16:31:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=6095"},"modified":"2014-01-17T16:31:41","modified_gmt":"2014-01-17T16:31:41","slug":"about-those-geostationarygeosynchronous-orbits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=6095","title":{"rendered":"About those geostationary\/geosynchronous orbits"},"content":{"rendered":"

Commercial communications satellites, weather satellites and other spacecraft are often put into a high equatorial orbit \u00a0(36000 km high) called the geostationary orbit where the satellite will revolve at the same angular velocity as the earth turns, thus keeping it always above a given spot on the equator. Here is an explanation of \u00a0geostationary and also of geosynchronous orbits and of how an orbit can be made circular :\u00a0How to get a satellite to geostationary orbit – The Planetary Society<\/a><\/p>\n

Putting a spacecraft into geostationary orbit typically starts by a rocket putting it into a highly elliptical orbit with the apogee at 36,000 km. This is called the geostationary transfer orbit.\u00a0The animation below illustrates how the perigee of a highly elliptical orbit is raised by firing the spacecraft’s own engine at the apogee of the orbit:<\/p>\n