Could one engineer a geostationary orbit above Edinburgh?

Answer 1

Unfortunately no. Geostationary means that the satellite must revolve with a 24 hours orbit, but also any orbit must be above a diameter. The only diameter that remains above the same latitude is at the equator (zero inclination), so a satellite that would be on a 24 hour orbit above a longitude point but reaching a latitude point that is not on the equator would have to go as far South as it gets North in any 24 hours period; in essence, it would be moving up and down all the time.

Now, given that the geostationary orbit is 36000 km (or nearly 3 time the diameter of the planet) placing a satellite on a non-inclined geostationary orbit is usually sufficient for it to be able to reach most ground stations, quite far in the north and south, provided that the antennae are properly orientated.

Answer 2

In an orbit, your distance from the center of rotation is the radius of the Earth plus your altitude. In order to maintain an orbit without expending energy, as in the case of a geostationary orbit, you must travel along the circumferece of that orbit. Because the point on earth represented by Edinburgh spins in a different path than your orbit, it would require much more energy to keep over it - much more than we can provide. You could hit Edinburgh twice a day using a 1 day orbital pattern.

Think of it like this. If your orbit is a circular plane parallel to that of the equator and sharing the same center, you can orbit along it without propulsion. The closer to a pole the center moves, however, the more you must thrust to stay up.

i.e. How would you have a geostationary orbit above the north pole? All it does is spin. To do this you would simply have to hover right above it. Except that gravity is pulling you down. You must have an enormous amount of energy to counteract that force, but that's very inefficient with current technology.

Edinburgh is roughly halfway from the pole to the equator, so you would basically be half-orbiting and half-hovering over the spot.

Until we develop a hover technology, this situation is simply not feasible - sorry.

Whew - long!
Hope I helped you at least understand why... :)

Answer 3

No. Edinburgh is over 50 degrees north. You can see Edinburgh from geostationary orbit though the sub-satellite point will nominally be somewhere near North West Africa.

Answer 4

Geostationary orbits exist directly overhead only for places on the equator. However, yes, you can have a satellite that appears stationary above the horizon for most any place on earth. All it takes is money.........!

Answer 5

Picture a hoop around the earth. Orbits have to divide the earth in half. The hoop can either be around the equator or go equal distances north and south of the equator.