One Planet, Three Eyes
Three geostationary fleets divide Earth into overlapping thirds. NOAA's GOES-East and GOES-West watch the Americas. EUMETSAT's Meteosat covers Europe and Africa, with backups parked over the Indian Ocean. Japan's Himawari-9 handles the Asia-Pacific. China's Fengyun-4 and Korea's GK-2A add redundant coverage over East Asia.
Polar Gap-Fillers
Geostationary satellites can't see the poles — the curvature of the Earth gets in the way. Polar-orbiting satellites like NOAA-20, MetOp-C and FY-3 fill that gap with twice-daily passes.