geosynchronous

British  

/ ˌdʒiːəʊˈsɪŋkrənəs /

adjective

1. another word for geostationary

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Explanation

Geosynchronous describes a certain type of movement by something orbiting Earth, such as a satellite. A geosynchronous orbit is one that moves around Earth at the same speed Earth rotates. Earth makes one complete rotation approximately every 24 hours (specifically, 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4.1 seconds). Something that's geosynchronous circles Earth once in that same amount of time. A geosynchronous orbit brings a satellite back to the same place in the sky, at the same time, day after day, because its movement is deliberately synchronized with the Earth's rotation. Geosynchronous is from the Greek geo-, "Earth," and synkhronos, "happening at the same time."

Example Sentences

Overview’s satellites will gather sunlight in geosynchronous orbit and beam it to existing solar projects.

From Barron's • Apr. 27, 2026

Overview plans to deploy satellites to geosynchronous orbit, more than 22,000 miles from the planet.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 27, 2026

The Air Force Research Lab tracks spacecraft beyond geosynchronous orbit — basically a traffic camera for the Solar System.

From MarketWatch • Oct. 30, 2025

A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 3:11 p.m. carrying the Merah Putih 2 telecommunications satellite for Telkom Indonesia to a geosynchronous transfer orbit.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 21, 2024

They owned and operated communi- cations companies, including their own geosynchronous satellite.

From Terminal Compromise: computer terrorism: when privacy and freedom are the victims: a novel by Schwartau, Winn