[z3n]

"The geostationary altitude is 36,000 km above the earth. That means an orbital period of 24 hours. If you go to 50,000 km above the earth the orbital period for a circular orbit is about 36 1/2 hours."

I'm not an astro-physicist, and I don't even dabble. So I'm probably asking a dumb question but isn't mass of the satellite a factor? In other words, the geostationary orbit of something with the mass of X isn't the same as that with the mass of X(1.25). Wouldn't it need more escape velocity to remain in orbit?

[Purdue77]

Satellites in the same orbit all follow the same laws of motion regardless of mass. All objects in the same orbit have the same velocity. Any less velocity and they fall into a different orbit or into the larger gravitational body. Any more and they move into a different orbit.

Escape velocity is a term concerning the velocity of an object needed to escape the gravitational pull of another object. Orbital velocity is the velocity of an object in orbit about a larger gravitational body.

However, it will take more energy to accelerate more mass to a given orbit than it will less mass.

[Magnum44]

Mass does matter, but for most things (man-made) the assumption that the mass of the satellite compared to the mass of the Earth is insignificant holds valid.

When you get to ratios of mass like that of the Earth and the moon, then you have to account for the fact that both bodies now orbit about a point (called the system barycenter) that is between the center of masses of the two separate bodies.