ELI5: What is geostationary orbit?

Imagine you have a toy car that you want to stay right above your house, always.

That's kind of what a geostationary orbit is for satellites.

Think about it like this:

• The Earth is spinning like a giant merry-go-round.
• We want a satellite to stay above a specific spot on Earth.
• If the satellite just hung still, the Earth would spin underneath it, and it would quickly move away from our spot.

To make this happen, we put the satellite in a special orbit far, far away. This orbit is called geostationary orbit. It's about 36,000 kilometers (22,300 miles) above the Earth.

• At this height, the satellite takes exactly 24 hours to go around the Earth.
• Since the Earth also takes 24 hours to spin once, the satellite and the Earth spin at the same rate.

• TV: Many TV satellites use geostationary orbit. Your satellite dish at home points to the same spot in the sky all the time because the satellite is always there.
• Weather: Weather satellites in geostationary orbit constantly watch the same area. This gives us real-time weather updates.
• Communication: Geostationary satellites help connect people around the world by relaying phone calls and internet signals.