geosynchronous

From geo- +‎ synchronous.

geosynchronous (not comparable)

1. Refers to the orbit of a satellite whose rate of revolution is matched to the rotation period of the Earth. A special case is the geostationary orbit which is circular and equatorial, so that the satellite appears to be fixed over a particular point on Earth's sky.
   • 1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, page 250:

     Hiro looks up, focuses his gaze on Earth, zooms in for a look. As he gets closer, the imagery he’s looking at shifts from the long-range pictures coming in from the geosynchronous satellites to the good stuff being spewed into the CIC computer from a whole fleet of low-flying spy birds. The view he’s looking at is a mosaic of images shot no more than a few hours ago.