How does a geostationary satellite remain over the same spot on Earth?
In: Planetary Science
If you throw a ball, it falls to the ground pretty quickly, right?
If you throw it faster, it stays up longer before falling.
If you throw it from higher up, it also stays up longer before hitting the ground, even if you throw it slower.
For something to orbit, we have to throw it fast enough that it misses the ground when it falls.
Turns out, the higher you go, the slower you have to throw it for it to miss the ground.
At a certain height, the speed that it has to go is exactly the same as the speed at which the earth rotates.
That’s the altitude that geostationary satellites orbit at.
And as someone else said, this only works of the satellite is on the equatorial plane. If it’s at an angle to the plane, it will appear to move north and south, making a figure 8.
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