geosynchronous satellite


geosynchronous satellite

[‚jē·ō¦siŋ·krə·nəs ′sad·əl‚īt] (aerospace engineering) An earth satellite that makes one revolution in one sidereal day (23 hours, 56 minutes, 4 seconds), synchronous with the earth's rotation; the orbit can have arbitrary eccentricity and arbitrary inclination to the earth's equator. Also known as synchronous satellite.