A synchronous polar orbit satallite crosses the equator at the same time each day while the sun synchronous polar satellite appears in the sky at the same time every few days. the sun synchronous allow for greater temporal and spatial monitoring under same conditions and also have finer resolution as the polar synchronous imagery is at the continental scale.

In simple terms, any body in space (e.g. an asteroid or satellite) is said to be synchronous when its own movement (i.e. orbit) corresponds to that of another. In other words, a "geo"synchronous satellite would be in orbit around earth, while Jupiter (and the other 7/8 planets) are heliosynchronous (orbiting the sun).

CARTOSAT 2A is an Earth observation satellite in a sun-synchronous orbit. The satellite is the thirteenth satellite in the Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite series to be built, launched and maintained by the Indian Space Research Organisation.

geo synchronous satellite launch vehicle

A sun-synchronous orbit is one that places a satellite over a given location at the same mean solar time on successive orbits. This is accomplished by tuning the orbital altitude and inclination.

The object is to have the same solar illumination angle at each approach, with the same orbital motion (ascending, descending). This is useful for surface observations, as with weather or spy satellites.