Determine The Height Of Geostationary Satellite

An object in such an orbit has an orbital period equal to the earth s rotational period one sidereal day and so to ground observers it appears motionless in a fixed.

Determine the height of geostationary satellite.

Insat group of satellites. To calculate the radius of a geostationary orbit the centripetal force must equal the gravitational force on the satellite or mass. R radius of the satellite from the center of the earth r e earth radius m e mass of the earth. Image satellites in geostationary orbit by lookang many thanks to author of original simulation francisco esquembre author of easy java simulation francisco esquembre.

And let h height of the satellite from the surface of the earth. T 24hrs 86400 s. A geostationary orbit also referred to as a geosynchronous equatorial orbit geo is a circular geosynchronous orbit 35 786 kilometres 22 236 miles above earth s equator and following the direction of earth s rotation. Geosynchronous means that the satellite has same period as the earth back to the same place in 24 hours.

Problem calculate the height of a geostationary satellite from the surface of the earth. These satellites can receive telecommunication signals and broadcast them back to a wide area on earth. From earth they would seem drifting in westerly direction. H 4 22 10 7 6 37 10 6 3 583 10 7 m.

Orbital velocity v 2 πr t. The radius of the earth is 6400km and its mass is 6x10 24 kg. T 24hours 24x60x60s 86400sec. R g m2 t 4π we know that m2 is the mass of the earth at 5 98 10 24 kg t is the time period and g the universal gravitation constant at 6 67 x10 11 kg 2.

We can calculate the height h above the earth s surface by subtracting the radius of the earth from the radius of the orbit. When a satellite travels in a geosynchronous orbit around the earth it needs to travel at a certain orbiting radius and period to maintain this orbit. The period of a satellite is the time it takes. Calculate the altitude of a satellite in geostationary orbit which is an orbit with the same 24 hour period as the earth and always located directly over the same location on the equator.

A minimum of three satellites are needed to cover the entire earth super synchronous orbit is a disposal storage orbit above gso. Answer for any geostationary satellite time period. A a geostationary orbit is when the satellite remains vertically above the same point on the equator at all all times and consequently has an orbital period of 24 hours. Because the radius and period are related you can use physics to calculate one if you know the other.

B calculate the height at which the satellite orbits above the surface of the earth.