synchronous orbit

British  

noun

1. astronautics an orbit in which the orbital period of a satellite is identical to the spin period of the central body

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synchronous orbit Scientific  

1. An orbit of a satellite around a rotating body, such that one orbit is completed in the time it takes for the body to make one revolution on its own axis. From the viewpoint of the rotating body (such as Earth), a satellite in synchronous orbit appears to hover over a single position or else to sweep back and forth once per revolution along a single line in the sky. Synchronous orbit is sometimes used synonymously with geostationary orbit, although the two terms are identical only if the synchronous orbit is in the equatorial plane (when the satellite appears to hover motionless over the rotating body). Artificial satellites in synchronous orbits are commonly used in telecommunications, due to their relatively stable overhead position with respect to the Earth's surface.

2. Compare synchronous rotation

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Example Sentences

The Kingsport next ordered Syncom to fire its hydrogen peroxide rocket to correct the slow eastward drift, and actually days will pass before Syncom's delicate guidance apparatus will jockey it into an exactly synchronous orbit.

From Time Magazine Archive

As Ford spelled it all out in a two-volume study for the FCC, BNS would launch four 22,300-mi.-high satellites into synchronous orbit, one hovering over each of the continental time zones.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Soviets also showed a model of their advanced Molniya communications satellite, which in synchronous orbit over Siberia can relay color TV between Moscow and Vladivostok.

From Time Magazine Archive

The great advantage of a satellite on a synchronous orbit like the Early Bird's is its fixed position relative to points on the earth's surface.

From Time Magazine Archive

In this fashion, the ion oscillates about the synchronous orbit.

From LRL Accelerators The 184-Inch Synchrocyclotron by Laboratory, Lawrence Radiation