Calculate (Geo-)Stationary Orbit

Calculator for the geostationary orbit around the earth or the stationary orbit around another celestial body. Another name is geosynchronous orbit. This means that an object in this orbit is always above the same point on the celestial body, and from there it does not move, unlike the stars in the background. The height of the orbit results from the mass and day length (period of rotation) of the planet or celestial body and its radius. Please enter these three values or select one of the given planets to calculate the height of the circular stationary orbit.

The formula for the calculation is: h = ³√ G * m * T² / ( 4 * π² ) - r

h is the orbit height in meters, G is the gravitational constant, m is the mass of the celestial body in kilograms, T is the period of rotation in seconds and r is the radius of the celestial body in meters.

Example: the geostationary orbit, i.e. that of the earth, is about 35800 kilometers above the earth’s surface and 42164 kilometers above the center of the earth (radius=0). Venus's stationary orbit, on the other hand, is over a million and a half kilometers out because of its very slow rotation.

The geostationary orbit around the Earth is mainly used by satellites that are designed to observe a specific location on the Earth or provide it with information. These include weather satellites and those for communication. Even though the geostationary orbit covers a fairly large area, it is already quite full in some places, such as North America and Central Europe. The satellites cannot get too close to one another, and they also need a constant supply of fuel to compensate for gravitational fluctuations, such as those caused by the different positions of the sun and moon.