Old Weather Satellite Headed to 'Graveyard Orbit'

A satellite that's watched Earth for 20 years is retiring to a so-called graveyard orbit high above the Earth that puts out-of-commission satellites out of harm's way. Although the satellite, Meteosat-7, was only designed for about five years of use, it's sent meteorological data back to Earth for nearly two decades. Satellites in low-Earth orbit save enough fuel to redirect downward and eventually burn up in the atmosphere, to reduce crowding in active orbits. But some satellites like this retiring one, called Meteosat-7, are too high to make it to that final burn-up stage without carrying way too much extra fuel. More

(Source: Space.com - Apr 6)