At 35,786 km above the equator, a satellite takes exactly one day to go around the Earth, the time the Earth takes to turn once. Seen from the ground it seems to stand still, which is why satellite dishes can point at one spot for years. That ring, the geostationary orbit, hosts television, communication and weather satellites: the images of clouds in weather forecasts often come from there. In the 3D view, the satellites form a thin necklace far out around the Earth. Space on that ring is shared out between countries, and old satellites are pushed a few hundred kilometres higher at the end of their life to free their place.
What are geostationary satellites?
Computing…
Questions and answers
Why exactly 35,786 km?
The farther a satellite, the slower it orbits. At that height, its period equals one sidereal day (23 h 56 min), so it keeps pace with the turning Earth.
Can I see geostationary satellites?
Not with the naked eye; with a telescope they appear as faint points that stay still while the stars drift past.
Where the numbers come from
Values refresh every second in your browser; the published data are checked every 10 minutes and updated several times a day.