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Asatellite is said to occupy aninclined orbit aroundEarth if theorbit exhibits an angle other than 0° to theequatorial plane. This angle is called the orbit'sinclination. A planet is said to have an inclined orbit around theSun if it has an angle other than 0° to theecliptic plane.
A geosynchronous orbit is an inclined orbit with an altitude of 37,000 km (23,000 mi) that completes one revolution everysidereal day tracing out a smallfigure-eight shape in the sky.[1] Ageostationary orbit is a special case of geosynchronous orbit with no inclination, and therefore no apparent movement across the sky from a fixed observation point on the Earth's surface.
Due to their inherent instability, geostationary orbits will eventually become inclined if they are notcorrected using thrusters. At the end of the satellite's lifetime, when fuel approaches depletion, satellite operators may decide to omit these expensive manoeuvres to correct inclination and only control eccentricity. This prolongs the life-time of the satellite as it consumes less fuel over time, but the satellite can then only be used by ground antennas capable of following the north–south movement, satellite-tracking Earth stations.
A polar orbit has an inclination of 90 degrees passing over the poles of the planet on each pass. These types of orbits are often used for earth observation and weather services.
This is a special type of orbit thatprecesses at the same rate that the sun moves along the ecliptic, causing the satellite to rise over a fixed location on the earth's surface at the samemean solar time every day.
These orbits have an inclination governed by the equation:
where is the orbital inclination, and is the orbital period.
