The Neo-Babylonian Empire was a period of Mesopotamian history which began in 626 BC and ended in 539 BC. During the preceding three centuries, Babylonia had been ruled by their fellow Akkadian speakers and northern neighbours, Assyria.
In order for a satellite to successfully orbit the Earth, it must travel a horizontal distance of 8000 meters before falling a vertical distance of 5 meters. A horizontally launched projectile falls a vertical distance of 5 meters in its first second of motion.
The answer is that a satellite has to be placed approximately 22,000 miles (36,000 km) away from the surface of the Earth in order to remain in a GEO orbit. That is a lot farther than a low Earth orbit, or a relatively close highly eccentric GPS-like orbit, so it costs more to get it there.