Otherwise a section of the satellite's path (5)
I believe the answer is:
orbit
'the satellite's path' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'otherwise a section' is the wordplay.
'otherwise' becomes 'or'.
'a section' becomes 'bit' (I've seen this in other clues).
'or'+'bit'='ORBIT'
'of' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for orbit that I've seen before include "Revolve around" , "Path of planet etc" , "Circumnavigate" , "Lunar trajectory" , "Circular path of a planet" .)