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Geostationary Orbit
S
atellites in GEO travel on an equatorial path in the same direction of the Earth’s rotation, consistently remaining above the same location on Earth in a perceived ‘stationary’ position.30 This unique position is essential for many telecommunications, broadcasting, and weather satellites, which are often required to travel in orbit directly over a receiving station.31 Moreover, satellites in GEO can access around onethird of the Earth’s surface area, allowing very high radio frequencies emitted from one location on Earth to be received by a satellite and transmitted to another location on Earth.32 There are other types of orbits, (see box on right) but the focus of this report remains on GEO. Half of all satellites are positioned in GEO.33 These orbital slots are in high demand for a variety of purposes set out by the Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), not limited to: communications, meteorology, Earth resources and environment, navigation and aircraft control, testing of new systems, astronomy, and data relay.34 Positions in GEO are highly sought, but allocation is “first come, first served”.35 Under the current system relating to orbital slots, established spacefarers are
Types of orbits Low Earth Orbit (LEO): The orbit closest to Earth at 500 km – 1,200 km above the surface.36 LEO is utilized for communication and remote sensing. Medium Earth Orbit (MEO): A range of orbits up to an altitude of 20,000 km. These locations are often used for navigation, including GPS. Geosynchronous Orbit (GSO): Positions matching the Earth’s rotation with a consistent longitudinal location over Earth. Geostationary Orbit (GEO): A type of GSO with a constant position over the Equator and 36,000 km above the surface. Both GSO and GEO are used for telecommunications and Earth observation. Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO): A highly elliptical orbit with one end nearer the Earth and the other end further from the surface. These positions are often used for hybrid systems. Polar Orbit: This orbit is within 30 degrees of the North and South poles, which is useful for weather tracking and Earth monitoring.37
30
Balleste, Roy (2020) Space Horizons: An Era of Hope in the Geostationary Orbit. Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation 35(165), 165-192. https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/25373/JELL35_Balleste.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y. 31 Agama, Ferdinand Onwe (2017) Effects of the Bogota Declaration on the Legal Status of Geostationary orbit in international Space Law. NAUJILI 8(1). https://www.ajol.info/index.php/naujilj/article/view/156705 32 Balleste (2020). 33 Ibid. 34 Agama (2017). 35 Giacomin, Nicolas (2019) The Bogota Declaration and Space Law. Space Legal Issues. https://www.spacelegalissues.com/thebogota-declaration-and-space-law/ 36 Via Satellite (2022) GEO, MEO and LEO: How Orbital altitude impacts network performance in satellite data services. https://www.satellitetoday.com/content-collection/ses-hub-geo-meo-and-leo/ 37 Space Foundation (2022) Space Briefing Book: Types of Orbit. https://www.spacefoundation.org/space_brief/types-of-orbits/
EQUITABLE ACCESS TO SPACE
INTERPLANETARY INITIATIVE
