Table of Contents
- 1 What is the difference between a geosynchronous and geostationary satellite orbit?
- 2 How far is geosynchronous orbit?
- 3 Are GEO satellites used for GPS?
- 4 Why do GPS clocks run slower than on Earth?
- 5 How accurate are the clocks on the satellites?
- 6 What is the difference between GPS and satellite clocks?
What is the difference between a geosynchronous and geostationary satellite orbit?
While geosynchronous satellites can have any inclination, the key difference to geostationary orbit is the fact that they lie on the same plane as the equator. Geostationary orbits fall in the same category as geosynchronous orbits, but it’s parked over the equator.
How far is geosynchronous orbit?
35,786 kilometers
A geosynchronous orbit is a high Earth orbit that allows satellites to match Earth’s rotation. Located at 22,236 miles (35,786 kilometers) above Earth’s equator, this position is a valuable spot for monitoring weather, communications and surveillance.
Are GEO satellites used for GPS?
Unlike low Earth orbit satellites that routinely use onboard GPS receivers for positioning, satellites at high altitudes including the geostationary orbit (GEO) are typically tracked using ground-based radars or telescopes. GPS receivers designed for high altitude operations are being developed and used.
Does geosynchronous mean geostationary?
In technical terminology, the geosynchronous orbits are often referred to as geostationary if they are roughly over the equator, but the terms are used somewhat interchangeably. Specifically, geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO) may be a synonym for geosynchronous equatorial orbit, or geostationary Earth orbit.
What orbit are GPS satellites in?
medium Earth orbit
GPS satellites fly in medium Earth orbit (MEO) at an altitude of approximately 20,200 km (12,550 miles). Each satellite circles the Earth twice a day.
Why do GPS clocks run slower than on Earth?
At 3.874 kilometers per second, the clocks in the GPS satellites are traveling at great speed, and that makes the clocks on the satellites appear to run slower than the clocks on earth by about 7 microseconds a day. However, this apparent slowing of the clocks in orbit is counteracted by the weaker gravity around them.
How accurate are the clocks on the satellites?
Each satellite carries with it an atomic clock that “ticks” with a nominal accuracy of 1 nanosecond (1 billionth of a second).
What is the difference between GPS and satellite clocks?
The onboard satellite clocks are independent of one another. While GPS time itself is designed to be kept within one microsecond, 1 µsec or one-millionth of a second, of UTC, excepting leap seconds, the satellite clocks can be allowed to drift up to a millisecond, 1 msec or one-thousandth of a second, from GPS time.
What is the difference between GPS and Geo?
In addition to the main earth coverage beam, the GPS vehicles have side-lobe signals which have enough power to reach a user at GEO altitude. Unlike a Terrestrial User or a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) user of GPS, the GPS satellites a GEO satellite will use are beneath the GEO satellite.