Not only that, but thanks to the fact that the Earth's rotation (and thus the plane of the equator) is tilted off of the orbital plane, even equatorial satellites far below geosynchronous orbit will only pass through the Earth's shadow at all close to the equinoxes (twice a year). Most of the time, you have eternal sunshine throughout an orbit. It's as though the metaphorical baseball player takes a flying leap so that the umpire can see him over the pitcher's head.