# Supersynchronous orbit > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Supersynchronous_orbit > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Supersynchronous_orbit.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supersynchronous_orbit > Source revision: 1175616879 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Kind of planetary orbit}} A '''supersynchronous orbit''' is either an [orbit](/source/orbit) with a [period](/source/orbital_period) greater than that of a [synchronous orbit](/source/synchronous_orbit), or just an orbit whose [major axis](/source/Semi-major_and_semi-minor_axes) is larger than that of a synchronous orbit. A synchronous orbit has a period equal to the rotational period of the body which contains the [barycenter](/source/barycenter) of the orbit. ==Geocentric supersynchronous orbits== One particular supersynchronous orbital regime of significant [economic value](/source/Value_(economics)) to Earth commerce is a band of [near-circular](/source/circular_orbit) [Geocentric](/source/Geocentric_orbit) orbits beyond the [geosynchronous belt](/source/Geosynchronous_orbit)—with [perigee](/source/perigee) altitude above {{convert|36100|km}}, approximately {{convert|300|km}} above [synchronous](/source/synchronous_orbit) altitude {{cite web |title=U.S. Government Orbital Debris Mitigation Standard Practices |url=http://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/library/USG_OD_Standard_Practices.pdf |publisher=United States Federal Government |accessdate=2013-11-28 }} —called the [geo graveyard belt](/source/Graveyard_orbit). {{cite journal |last=Luu|first=Kim |author2=Sabol, Chris |title=Effects of perturbations on space debris in supersynchronous storage orbits |journal=Air Force Research Laboratory Technical Reports |date=October 1998 |issue=AFRL-VS-PS-TR-1998-1093 |bibcode=1998PhDT.......274L |url=http://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a361503.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203042531/http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a361503.pdf |url-status=live |archive-date=December 3, 2013 |accessdate=2013-11-28 }} The geo graveyard belt orbital regime is valuable as a storage and disposal location for [derelict satellite](/source/%3ACategory%3ADerelict_satellites_orbiting_Earth) [space debris](/source/space_debris) after their [useful economic life](/source/Product_lifetime) is completed as geosynchronous [communication satellites](/source/communication_satellites). Artificial satellites are left in space because the economic cost of removing the debris would be high, and current [public policy](/source/public_policy) does not require nor [incentivize](/source/incentive) rapid removal by the party that first inserted the debris in [outer space](/source/space) and thus created a [negative externality](/source/negative_externality) for others—a placing of the cost onto them. One public policy proposal to deal with growing space debris is a "one-up/one-down" [launch license](/source/launch_license) policy for Earth orbits. Launch vehicle operators would have to pay the cost of debris mitigation. They would need to build the capability into their launch vehicle-robotic capture, navigation, mission duration extension, and substantial additional propellant – to be able to rendezvous with, capture and deorbit an existing derelict satellite from approximately the same orbital plane.Frank Zegler and Bernard Kutter, [http://www.ulalaunch.com/site/docs/publications/DepotBasedTransportationArchitecture2010.pdf "Evolving to a Depot-Based Space Transportation Architecture"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717150155/http://www.ulalaunch.com/site/docs/publications/DepotBasedTransportationArchitecture2010.pdf |date=2011-07-17 }}, AIAA SPACE 2010 Conference & Exposition, 30 August-2 September 2010, AIAA 2010–8638. An additional common use of supersynchronous orbits are for the launch and [transfer orbit trajectory](/source/transfer_orbit) of new [commsat](/source/commsat)s intended for [geosynchronous orbit](/source/geosynchronous_orbit)s. In this approach, the [launch vehicle](/source/launch_vehicle) places the satellite into a ''supersynchronous'' [elliptical](/source/elliptic_orbit) [transfer orbit](/source/Hohmann_transfer_orbit),{{cite news |last=Svitak |first=Amy |title=Musk: Falcon 9 Will Capture Market Share |url=http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=%2Farticle-xml%2Fawx_11_24_2013_p0-640244.xml |accessdate=2013-11-28 |newspaper=Aviation Week |date=2013-11-24 |archive-date=2013-11-28 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20131128130723/http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/awx_11_24_2013_p0-640244.xml |url-status=dead }} an orbit with a somewhat larger [apogee](/source/apogee) than the more typical [geostationary transfer orbit](/source/geostationary_transfer_orbit) (GTO) typically used for communication satellites. Such an orbit is used because a small change in inclination at a lower altitude requires much more energy than the same change at a higher altitude. Thus is it sometimes optimal to use spacecraft propulsion to change the inclination at a higher-than-desired apogee, then lower the apogee to the desired altitude—resulting in a lower total [expenditure of propellant](/source/delta-v_budget) by the satellite's [kick motor](/source/apogee_kick_motor). {{cite news |url=http://www.spacenews.com/article/launch-report/38959spacex-delivers-thaicom-6-satellite-to-orbit |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140107175040/http://www.spacenews.com/article/launch-report/38959spacex-delivers-thaicom-6-satellite-to-orbit |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 7, 2014 |title=SpaceX Delivers Thaicom-6 Satellite to Orbit|publisher=Space News |first=Peter B. |last=de Selding |date=6 January 2014 |accessdate=7 January 2014 }} This technique was used, for example, on the launch and transfer [orbit injection](/source/orbital_injection) of the first two [SpaceX](/source/SpaceX) [Falcon 9 v1.1](/source/Falcon_9_v1.1) GTO launches in December 2013 and January 2014, [SES-8](/source/SES-8) and [Thaicom 6](/source/Thaicom_6) ({{convert|90000|km|mi|sp=us}}-[apogee](/source/apogee)), respectively. In both cases, the satellite owner uses the [propulsion](/source/spacecraft_propulsion) built into the satellite to reduce the apogee and [circularize](/source/circular_orbit) the orbit to a [geostationary orbit](/source/geostationary_orbit). This has also been a common practice by ULA, including the WGS communications satellite constellation. This technique was also used on the launch of [SES-14](/source/SES-14) and [Al Yah 3](/source/Al_Yah_3) during [Ariane 5 flight VA241](/source/Ariane_5_flight_VA241). However, due to launch crew error resulting in anomaly and a deviation of the trajectory, the satellites were not inserted into the intended orbit, causing a reschedule of their maneuvering plan.{{cite web|title=Independent Enquiry Commission announces conclusions concerning the launcher trajectory deviation during Flight VA241 - Arianespace|url=http://www.arianespace.com/press-release/independent-enquiry-commission-announces-conclusions-concerning-the-launcher-trajectory-deviation-during-flight-va241/|website=Arianespace|accessdate=23 February 2018}} ==Non-Geocentric supersynchronous orbits== [[File:Orbits of Phobos and Deimos.gif|thumb|right|The Martian moons [Phobos](/source/Phobos_(moon)) and [Deimos](/source/Deimos_(moon)) are in [subsynchronous](/source/subsynchronous_orbit) and supersynchronous orbits respectively. Phobos is orbiting Mars faster than the rotation of Mars itself.]] Most natural satellites in the [Solar System](/source/Solar_System) are in supersynchronous orbits. The [Moon](/source/Moon) is in a supersynchronous orbit of [Earth](/source/Earth), orbiting more slowly than the 24-hour rotational period of Earth. The inner of the two Martian moons, [Phobos](/source/Phobos_(moon)), is in a [subsynchronous orbit](/source/subsynchronous_orbit) of Mars with an orbital period of only 0.32 days. The outer moon [Deimos](/source/Deimos_(moon)) is in supersynchronous orbit around [Mars](/source/Mars).{{cite book |author=Lodders, Katharina |author-link=Katharina Lodders|author2=Fegley, Bruce |date=1998 |title=The planetary scientist's companion |publisher=Oxford University Press US |pages=190, 198 |isbn=0-19-511694-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jjfGlgIClcMC }} The [Mars Orbiter Mission](/source/Mars_Orbiter_Mission)—currently orbiting Mars—is placed into highly [elliptical](/source/elliptic_orbit) supersynchronous orbit around Mars, with a period of 76.7 hours and a planned [periapsis](/source/periapsis) of {{convert|365|km|mi|abbr=on}} and [apoapsis](/source/apoapsis) of {{convert|70000|km|mi|abbr=on}}. {{cite web |url=http://www.isro.org/pslv-c25/pdf/mom-trajectory.pdf |title=Trajectory Design |accessdate=2013-10-08 |date=October 2013 |format=PDF (5.37Mb) |publisher=Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO )}} ==See also== * [Subsynchronous orbit](/source/Subsynchronous_orbit) * [List of orbits](/source/List_of_orbits) ==References== {{Reflist|30em}} Category:Astrodynamics Category:Orbits --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Supersynchronous orbit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supersynchronous_orbit) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supersynchronous_orbit?action=history)). 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