One to two Starlink satellites are falling back to Earth each day

Re:One to two Starlink satellites are falling back to Earth ... by michaelmior on Monday October 06, 2025 @02:21PM (#45494458)

Not with a geostationary orbit. That must have a fixed radius. The problem is that satellites have to move to counteract the force of gravity to avoid falling out of orbit. But if they move too much or too little, then the satellite moves with respect to the earth and the orbit is no longer geostationary.

(Caveat: Not an expert by any means, just someone who had a similar question and did some reading, so my answer may well be incomplete or not fully correct.)

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Re:One to two Starlink satellites are falling back to Earth ... by zwily on Monday October 06, 2025 @03:46PM (#45495462)

Starlink satellites aren't geostationary.

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Re:One to two Starlink satellites are falling back to Earth ... by michaelmior on Monday October 06, 2025 @07:57PM (#45497715)

The parent comment wasn't specifically addressing Starlink.

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Re:One to two Starlink satellites are falling back to Earth ... by tejtm on Monday October 06, 2025 @06:39PM (#45497106)

This has already been addressed as LEO is not geostationary but to point as to why. Consider the earths equator rotates at a particular velocity so there is a particular orbital radius where the two cancel and NO energy is needed to fall around the equator at the same rate the equator is moving. That is a geostationary orbit.

LEO maxes out ~ 1,200 miles radius, geostationary is at little over over 22,000 miles radius.

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