Why Space Matters: GEO Satellite operations, Part 6–Eclipse

All that you touch, all that you see… Yep, you guessed it! We’re going to talk about another issue common to geostationary (GEO) satellites: the eclipse. This issue is almost opposite from the problem discussed in Part 5 of the GEO lesson series. Instead of being overpowered by the sun’s energy, the satellite can’t function […]

The Earth’s “Love Handles”

Womencitizen is focusing on the Earth’s “Love Handles” with this 2 February post. University analysts are finding the odd shape of the Earth is keeping satellites in orbit longer than if it were a perfect sphere. If you’ll remember, the Earth isn’t shaped like a perfect sphere, but more like a squashed Halloween pumpkin. Such […]

Why Space Matters: GEO Satellite operations, Part 5.5–Indian GEO Flight Plan

Just a short blurb for you about a really great blog post from Planetary.org. It’s definitely related to The Mad Spaceball’s GEO lesson series on this site. I think it’s better written. I wanted to provide, at the very least, the link for this post, titled “How to get a satellite to geostationary orbit”. As you […]

Why Space Matters: GEO Satellite operations, Part 5–Lights & Music

During the last few lessons, the great advantages of satellites in a geostationary orbit (GEO) were espoused about ad nauseum. The characteristics of persistence in communications and observations are the direct benefits of using a satellite in GEO. Include the huge field of regard and simplified ground system requirements, and it’s really a no-brainer to […]

Why Space Matters: GEO Satellite operations, Part 4–Communicate

“…You gotta reach out – Reach out and touch someone…” The last lesson showed how a geosynchronous (GEO) satellite can essentially “hover” over a particular area of the Earth. Almost as if a physical rigid connection keeps them moving together. This is because the GEO satellite’s orbit matches the speed of the Earth’s rotation, giving […]