The world’s leading space powers are desperate to know what other space powers are doing above the equator. For more than a decade, the U.S. military has operated a fleet of “Inspector” satellites, designed to sit alongside other spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit and take pictures. China began launching its own satellites for a similar mission in 2018.
Ars has written about these activities in geosynchronous orbit (GEO) before, but the past few months have seen some interesting developments. First, Russia has now joined the fray with the recent arrival of its own suspected observer (or attack) satellite in GEO. Second, the US Space Force is set to order more – perhaps many more – reconnaissance satellites of its own to send to the geosynchronous belt.
GEO is special. The laws of orbital mechanics mean that a satellite in this type of orbit, about 22,000 miles (36,000 kilometers) above the equator, rotates around Earth at the same rate as the planet’s rotation, causing it to hover in the same spot. Commercial and military-owned geosynchronous satellites typically spend years in the same location or slot to provide communications services to users.
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