Synchronous Orbits of Communication Satellites

Synchronous Orbits of Communication Satellites The orbits of communication satellites vary for the type of satellite it is. The type of satellite it is depends on the work it is designed for. For example spy satellites (and most of the LEO satellites) need to be close to earth to take clearer pictures. First to understand the elliptical shaped orbits of the communication satellites, one needs to know that an orbit is a regular, repeating path …

…at the same local time every day. This can be useful if instruments on board depend on a certain angle of solar illumination on the surface. In conclusion, there are three common types of orbits of communication satellites. Each satellite having different an orbit shaped like an ellipse. The orbit time is found by the formula created by Johannes Kepler: the orbital time is proportional to the cube of its mean distance to the sun.