A satellite that orbits in the plane of the Earth's equator and 35,880 km above it, at which distance the satellite's period of rotation matches the Earth's and the satellite always remains fixed in t
he same spot over the Earth.
Term applied to any equatorial satellite with an orbital velocity equal to the rotational velocity of the Earth. The geosynchronous altitude is near 6.6 Earth radii (approximately 36,000 km above the
Earth’s surface). To be geostationary as well, the satellite must satisfy the additional restriction that its orbital inclination be exactly zero degrees. The net effect is that a geostationary satellite is virtually motionless with respect to an observer on the ground.
A satellite that has a circular orbit around the Earth identical to a geostationary orbit except that the satellite's orbit does not necessarily lie in the Earth's equatorial plane.