The apogee is not as high as GEO.
Quote from: LouScheffer on 08/18/2017 02:31 pmThe apogee is not as high as GEO.Apogee is exactly GEO altitude, when propagated out to apogee.
A geostationary equatorial orbit (GEO) is a circular geosynchronous orbit in the plane of the Earth's equator with a radius of approximately 42,164 km (26,199 mi) (measured from the center of the Earth). A satellite in such an orbit is at an altitude of approximately 35,786 km (22,236 mi) above mean sea level.
“The deployment of the satellites depends on the requirements. At this moment, there is no need a TDRS-N,” said Badri Younes, deputy associate administrator for Space Communications and Navigation at NASA Headquarters. “We are seeing a need for additional data relaying capability around the 2025 time frame.”Those future needs will be met by a later generation of communications satellites. Younes, at the press conference, said those future spacecraft will likely incorporate new technologies, including laser communications, which he said can offer up to 100 times the bandwidth for the same amount of power. “We have declared the next decade to be the decade of light, as we intend to light up the communications highways over the solar system,” he said.Other technologies he said NASA was considering incorporating on future satellites include disruption tolerant networking and quantum entanglement, which would provide essentially unbreakable encryption for satellite communications. China has been testing quantum entanglement for communications using a satellite launched last year.Younes suggested that those future data relay satellites might be owned and operated by commercial entities rather than NASA. “NASA’s optimum goal is to push the technology to enable the commercial sector such that these services can be provided by commercial providers, and NASA will not need in the future to build these kinds of capabilities,” he said. “They can become a user, like any other user.”
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Space fans, tourists, and beach-goers watch the liftoff of Atlas V and TDRS-M! Photo by me from Playalinda Beach. cc: @ulalaunch @torybruno
Third Generation Satellite Joins NASA's Communication NetworkNASAPublished on 18 Aug 2017On Friday, August 18, NASA launched the third in a series of three advanced, Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, known as TDRS-M, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, in Florida. This latest addition to the fleet will augment a space communications network that provides the critical path for high data-rate communication to a host of spacecraft including the International Space Station and its resupply vehicles, the Hubble Space Telescope and many of NASA’s Earth-observing fleet spacecraft.
