What is Polar Orbiting Satellite ?

This page describe polar orbiting satellite and its function. The advantages of polar satellite are also mentioned.

What is Polar Satellite ?

The satellite which is installed on polar sun synchronous orbit is known as polar satellite or polar orbiting satellite. This orbit lies at altitude between 700 to 800 Km. This satellite passes over all places on the Earth having same latitude twice in each orbit at the same local sun time.

These polar satellites cover entire globe on regular basis and provides repetitive coverage on periodic basis. Most of the earth imaging satellites are polar orbiting. This means they circle the planet in a roughly north-south ellipse while the earth revolves beneath them. Polar satellite crosses over both the poles on each revolution. Orbital period is 100 minutes of such satellites.

Examples of polar orbiting satellites :
• SCATSAT-1 which was installed in 730 Km polar sun synchronous orbit. It was launched by INDIA using PSLV C-35 launch vehicle. It can be used to provide wind vector data for weather forecasting, cyclone detection and tracking services to the users.
• Othe polar satellites are Landsat series, SPOT series, IRS series, NOAA, SEASAT, TIROS etc.

Advantages and disadvantages of Polar satellite

➨Advantages: It is used for reconnaissance and to capture high resolution images for earth observation/mapping.
➨Disadvantages: It can not view a particular spot on the Earth's surface continuously.