How large is the "Box"

[Wescopc]

How large is the "Box" that a satellite must stay within? I have heard - "the size of a football field" but I have also heard that it must maintain .1 or .15 degrees - which would equate to several miles on a side.

The way I figure it the Clarke belt diameter is about 52,600 miles or about 165,000 miles in circumference. This would equate to about 460 miles for each degree of separation (or 46 miles for .1 degree). So back to the question - is the assigned box measured in feet or miles?
Bob

 

[nelson61]

How large is the "Box" that a satellite must stay within? I have heard - "the size of a football field" but I have also heard that it must maintain .1 or .15 degrees - which would equate to several miles on a side.

The way I figure it the Clarke belt diameter is about 52,600 miles or about 165,000 miles in circumference. This would equate to about 460 miles for each degree of separation (or 46 miles for .1 degree). So back to the question - is the assigned box measured in feet or miles?
Bob

The "box" is measured in degrees. A typical FCC license specifies a longitude of +/- 0.05 degrees longitude. But, the latest Directv satellites (Boeing) have been licensed for +/- 0.025 degrees. This has allowed them to cluster more satellites at one licensed location.

 

[Wescopc]

So it would be +/- 11.5 miles for .025 degrees - making the box 23 MILES on a side. I always thought that "feet" the size of a football field was pretty tight.
Bob

 

[pedrogarcia]

I used to be involved in this and true it is measured in degrees. It is also depends on the footprint, the tighter areas of the footprint the more need for fine adjustments. The box itself on a large footprint can reach around 60 miles. There is a reluctance to keep adjusting as they have a finite amount of fuel and now they have to keep a reserve to get to the graveyard orbit for decay