Geostationary And Polar Satellites - Practice Questions & MCQ

Geostationary Satellite-

That satellite which appears stationary relative to the earth is called geostationary or geosynchronous satellite.

A geostationary satellite will stay the same place above the earth always, such a satellite is never at rest. Geostationary satellite appears stationary due to its zero relative velocity with respect to that place on earth.

It is also known as parking orbit.

• Now, you can say that the time period of the geostationary satellite is also 24 hours or 86400 sec.

           So T= 24 hours or 86400 sec.

        and we know that the Height of Satellite is given by 

         $h=\left(\frac{T^2 g R^2}{4 \pi^2}\right)^{\frac{1}{3}}-R$

       So putting  T= 24 hours or 86400 sec.

          We get the height of geostationary satellite from the surface of the earth

            as h = 6R = 36000 km

• Its a sense of rotation should be the same as that of earth about its own axis.

           i.e., in an anti-clockwise direction (from west to east).

• A geostationary satellite is used for telecommunication, weather forecasting, etc.

Polar satellite-

Polar satellite is a satellite whose orbit is perpendicular or at right angles to the equator.

or in simple words, it passes over the north and south poles as it orbits the earth.

It can also be used as a communication satellite for countries/areas near the poles

where Geostationary satellites have no / Poor coverage.