geostationary

adjective

geo·​sta·​tion·​ary ˌjē-ō-ˈstā-shə-ˌner-ē How to pronounce geostationary (audio)
: being or having an equatorial orbit at an altitude of about 22,300 miles (35,900 kilometers) requiring an angular velocity the same as that of the earth so that the position of a satellite in such an orbit is fixed with respect to the earth

Examples of geostationary in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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But to be geostationary – to maintain a steady position over one spot on earth – satellites must be over 22,000 miles above it. Calum Chace, Forbes, 6 Dec. 2024 The former operates two satellites in geostationary orbit, at an altitude of 35,000 kilometres (22,000 miles), with a third to launch in 2021. Jonathan O’Callaghan, WIRED, 24 May 2019 That means Starlink can deliver download bandwidth in the hundreds of megabytes and, crucially, latency right down into the tens of milliseconds, rather than the half-second or more that geostationary satellites suffer from. Barry Collins, Forbes, 22 Oct. 2024 This is a similar approach that SpaceX took with Starlink–instead of a few large, costly, geostationary satellites to deliver internet, which had been the case since the 1990s, Starlink instead consists of hundreds of small, cheap satellites in low orbit. Alex Knapp, Forbes, 9 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for geostationary 

Word History

First Known Use

1961, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of geostationary was in 1961

Dictionary Entries Near geostationary

Cite this Entry

“Geostationary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/geostationary. Accessed 18 Dec. 2024.

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