A geosynchronous orbit is any orbit around Earth with an orbital period matching Earth's rotation, about 23 hours 56 minutes, so a satellite there returns to the same point in the sky at the same time each day. Unlike a geostationary orbit, which is a geosynchronous orbit constrained to zero inclination directly above the equator, a geosynchronous orbit can be inclined, tracing a figure-eight ground track over a fixed range of latitudes. This flexibility makes it useful for satellites serving high-latitude regions poorly covered by a purely equatorial geostationary position.
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