Super-Synchronous Orbit

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[edit] Super-Synchronous Orbits

A super-synchronous orbit is an orbit that has a period of greater than 23hrs 56 minutes, that is very circular with an eccentricity of around zero. This orbit is commonly known as a "disposal" orbit for Geostationary orbit satellites after their end of life. Because geostationary satellites, or geo-belt objects as they are known, are crowded into the same orbit, companies and military organizations like to free up the space by "kicking out" old satellites and replacing them with new ones. Unlike low earth orbit satellites that can be forced to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere, GEO-Belt objects do not have the required fuel to re-enter the atmosphere.