text: At a certain altitude (25,200 miles) it takes exactly 24 hours to orbit the Earth.  Since the Earth turns in 24 hours, the satellite appears to stay over the exact same longitude.\n\nIt is important also to have the orbit lie along the equator.  If the orbit is at an angle to the equator, the satellite will appear to move north and south throughout the day.  \n\nOnce a satellite is in this geosynchronous (moves at the same speed as the Earth) or geostationary (hovers over the same point on the surface of the Earth) orbit, we can aim a satellite dish at it and not have to move the dish.\n\nThis works when you have a good line of sight to the geostationary orbit.  Countries that are far to the north and south don't have a good line of sight.  In the 60's, the USSR used to launch communications satellites in polar orbit.  Their satellite dishes had to swing slowly south to track the satellite, then swing quickly north to meet the next one when it came over the horizon.  If you needed a system like that in the US, satellite television would be too complicated and too expensive for the average homeowner.