Tutorial: Basic Orbiting (Technical)
Getting into space is relatively easy, but staying there without drifting endlessly into space or falling back down to Kearth can be challenging. This tutorial will teach you how to get into and remain in orbit, how to adjust your orbit to be circular or elliptical, and how to adjust to a higher or lower orbit.
Great hammer of Thor, that is poewrfully helpful!
Stabilizing your orbit
During each orbit, your craft will reach maximum altitude, called apoapsis, and on the opposite side of the planet, it will reach minimum altitude, called periapsis. At both apoapsis and periapsis, your vertical speed will be zero. These points are the easiest points to make orbital corrections, because you can easily determine how fast to go when your vertical speed is zero. Note: The relative difference between your orbit's apoapsis and periapsis is called its eccentricity. Orbits that are exactly circular have zero eccentricity, and highly "flattened-out" orbits have eccentricity close to 1.
First, in order to get into a nice, round orbit, you need to determine how fast to go. The higher your orbit, the less gravity you'll feel from Kearth, so the slower you'll need to go to be in a circular orbit. Consult the table below to determine the proper speed for your altitude at apoapsis or periapsis. You'll probably want to watch your altimiter as you near one of the critical points, remember the altitude, look up the speed in the table, and make the correction on your next pass. If you want to "round out" your orbit from apoapsis, you need to speed up to avoid falling back down to periapsis. Point your craft in the exact direction of travel (use the green circular indicator on the gimbal to line up), and apply thrust until you've gained enough speed. To round out an orbit from periapsis, you need to slow down to avoid climbing back up to apoapsis. Point your craft in the opposite direction of travel (indicated on the gimbal by a green circle with an "X" through it), and apply thrust until you have slowed to the speed indicated by the table. You should then be in an orbit that is very close to circular! Depending on how eccentric your initial orbit was, you may need to make a large correction on your first pass followed by a small correction on a subsequent pass to get very stable.
I'm not wtorhy to be in the same forum. ROTFL
Technical Details
Below are the formulae used to determine orbital speeds, and a table of orbital speeds up to 1000 km.
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Transfer Orbits
Coming soon!
Orbital Table
Note: The atmosphere previously had a sharp cutoff at 34.5 km, but now extends to approximately 68 km. Below this altitude, your orbit will gradually decay. The decay becomes quite rapid below about 45 km. The orbital parameters below 68 km are provided for reference, but understand that you will not be able to maintain these orbits without regular corrections to counteract the atmospheric drag.
Altitude (m) | Horizontal Speed (m/s) | Orbital Period (min) |
---|---|---|
35000 | 2357.9 | 28.20 |
36000 | 2356.1 | 28.27 |
37000 | 2354.2 | 28.33 |
38000 | 2352.4 | 28.40 |
39000 | 2350.5 | 28.47 |
40000 | 2348.7 | 28.54 |
41000 | 2346.9 | 28.60 |
42000 | 2345.0 | 28.67 |
43000 | 2343.2 | 28.74 |
44000 | 2341.4 | 28.80 |
45000 | 2339.6 | 28.87 |
46000 | 2337.8 | 28.94 |
47000 | 2336.0 | 29.00 |
48000 | 2334.2 | 29.07 |
49000 | 2332.4 | 29.14 |
50000 | 2330.6 | 29.21 |
51000 | 2328.8 | 29.27 |
52000 | 2327.0 | 29.34 |
53000 | 2325.2 | 29.41 |
54000 | 2323.4 | 29.48 |
55000 | 2321.7 | 29.54 |
56000 | 2319.9 | 29.61 |
57000 | 2318.1 | 29.68 |
58000 | 2316.4 | 29.75 |
59000 | 2314.6 | 29.82 |
60000 | 2312.8 | 29.88 |
61000 | 2311.1 | 29.95 |
62000 | 2309.4 | 30.02 |
63000 | 2307.6 | 30.09 |
64000 | 2305.9 | 30.16 |
65000 | 2304.1 | 30.22 |
66000 | 2302.4 | 30.29 |
67000 | 2300.7 | 30.36 |
68000 | 2299.0 | 30.43 |
69000 | 2297.2 | 30.50 |
70000 | 2295.5 | 30.56 |
71000 | 2293.8 | 30.63 |
72000 | 2292.1 | 30.70 |
73000 | 2290.4 | 30.77 |
74000 | 2288.7 | 30.84 |
75000 | 2287.0 | 30.91 |
76000 | 2285.3 | 30.98 |
77000 | 2283.6 | 31.05 |
78000 | 2281.9 | 31.11 |
79000 | 2280.3 | 31.18 |
80000 | 2278.6 | 31.25 |
81000 | 2276.9 | 31.32 |
82000 | 2275.2 | 31.39 |
83000 | 2273.6 | 31.46 |
84000 | 2271.9 | 31.53 |
85000 | 2270.3 | 31.60 |
86000 | 2268.6 | 31.67 |
87000 | 2266.9 | 31.74 |
88000 | 2265.3 | 31.80 |
89000 | 2263.7 | 31.87 |
90000 | 2262.0 | 31.94 |
91000 | 2260.4 | 32.01 |
92000 | 2258.7 | 32.08 |
93000 | 2257.1 | 32.15 |
94000 | 2255.5 | 32.22 |
95000 | 2253.9 | 32.29 |
96000 | 2252.2 | 32.36 |
97000 | 2250.6 | 32.43 |
98000 | 2249.0 | 32.50 |
99000 | 2247.4 | 32.57 |
100000 | 2245.8 | 32.64 |
105000 | 2237.8 | 32.99 |
110000 | 2229.9 | 33.34 |
115000 | 2222.1 | 33.70 |
120000 | 2214.4 | 34.05 |
125000 | 2206.7 | 34.40 |
130000 | 2199.2 | 34.76 |
135000 | 2191.7 | 35.12 |
140000 | 2184.3 | 35.48 |
145000 | 2176.9 | 35.84 |
150000 | 2169.6 | 36.20 |
155000 | 2162.4 | 36.56 |
160000 | 2155.3 | 36.93 |
165000 | 2148.3 | 37.29 |
170000 | 2141.3 | 37.66 |
175000 | 2134.4 | 38.02 |
180000 | 2127.5 | 38.39 |
185000 | 2120.7 | 38.76 |
190000 | 2114.0 | 39.13 |
195000 | 2107.3 | 39.51 |
200000 | 2100.7 | 39.88 |
205000 | 2094.2 | 40.25 |
210000 | 2087.7 | 40.63 |
215000 | 2081.3 | 41.01 |
220000 | 2075.0 | 41.38 |
225000 | 2068.7 | 41.76 |
230000 | 2062.4 | 42.14 |
235000 | 2056.3 | 42.52 |
240000 | 2050.1 | 42.91 |
245000 | 2044.0 | 43.29 |
250000 | 2038.0 | 43.68 |
255000 | 2032.1 | 44.06 |
260000 | 2026.1 | 44.45 |
265000 | 2020.3 | 44.84 |
270000 | 2014.5 | 45.23 |
275000 | 2008.7 | 45.62 |
280000 | 2003.0 | 46.01 |
285000 | 1997.3 | 46.40 |
290000 | 1991.7 | 46.79 |
295000 | 1986.1 | 47.19 |
300000 | 1980.6 | 47.59 |
305000 | 1975.1 | 47.98 |
310000 | 1969.7 | 48.38 |
315000 | 1964.3 | 48.78 |
320000 | 1959.0 | 49.18 |
325000 | 1953.7 | 49.58 |
330000 | 1948.4 | 49.98 |
335000 | 1943.2 | 50.39 |
340000 | 1938.0 | 50.79 |
345000 | 1932.9 | 51.20 |
350000 | 1927.8 | 51.61 |
355000 | 1922.7 | 52.01 |
360000 | 1917.7 | 52.42 |
365000 | 1912.7 | 52.83 |
370000 | 1907.8 | 53.24 |
375000 | 1902.9 | 53.66 |
380000 | 1898.0 | 54.07 |
385000 | 1893.2 | 54.48 |
390000 | 1888.4 | 54.90 |
395000 | 1883.7 | 55.32 |
400000 | 1879.0 | 55.73 |
405000 | 1874.3 | 56.15 |
410000 | 1869.6 | 56.57 |
415000 | 1865.0 | 56.99 |
420000 | 1860.5 | 57.41 |
425000 | 1855.9 | 57.84 |
430000 | 1851.4 | 58.26 |
435000 | 1846.9 | 58.68 |
440000 | 1842.5 | 59.11 |
445000 | 1838.1 | 59.54 |
450000 | 1833.7 | 59.96 |
455000 | 1829.3 | 60.39 |
460000 | 1825.0 | 60.82 |
465000 | 1820.7 | 61.25 |
470000 | 1816.5 | 61.69 |
475000 | 1812.2 | 62.12 |
480000 | 1808.0 | 62.55 |
485000 | 1803.9 | 62.99 |
490000 | 1799.7 | 63.42 |
495000 | 1795.6 | 63.86 |
500000 | 1791.5 | 64.30 |
505000 | 1787.5 | 64.74 |
510000 | 1783.4 | 65.18 |
515000 | 1779.4 | 65.62 |
520000 | 1775.5 | 66.06 |
525000 | 1771.5 | 66.50 |
530000 | 1767.6 | 66.95 |
535000 | 1763.7 | 67.39 |
540000 | 1759.8 | 67.84 |
545000 | 1756.0 | 68.28 |
550000 | 1752.1 | 68.73 |
555000 | 1748.3 | 69.18 |
560000 | 1744.6 | 69.63 |
565000 | 1740.8 | 70.08 |
570000 | 1737.1 | 70.53 |
575000 | 1733.4 | 70.98 |
580000 | 1729.7 | 71.44 |
585000 | 1726.1 | 71.89 |
590000 | 1722.4 | 72.35 |
595000 | 1718.8 | 72.80 |
600000 | 1715.3 | 73.26 |
605000 | 1711.7 | 73.72 |
610000 | 1708.2 | 74.18 |
615000 | 1704.6 | 74.64 |
620000 | 1701.1 | 75.10 |
625000 | 1697.7 | 75.56 |
630000 | 1694.2 | 76.03 |
635000 | 1690.8 | 76.49 |
640000 | 1687.4 | 76.96 |
645000 | 1684.0 | 77.42 |
650000 | 1680.6 | 77.89 |
655000 | 1677.2 | 78.36 |
660000 | 1673.9 | 78.83 |
665000 | 1670.6 | 79.29 |
670000 | 1667.3 | 79.77 |
675000 | 1664.0 | 80.24 |
680000 | 1660.8 | 80.71 |
685000 | 1657.6 | 81.18 |
690000 | 1654.3 | 81.66 |
695000 | 1651.1 | 82.13 |
700000 | 1648.0 | 82.61 |
705000 | 1644.8 | 83.09 |
710000 | 1641.7 | 83.56 |
715000 | 1638.5 | 84.04 |
720000 | 1635.4 | 84.52 |
725000 | 1632.3 | 85.00 |
730000 | 1629.3 | 85.48 |
735000 | 1626.2 | 85.97 |
740000 | 1623.2 | 86.45 |
745000 | 1620.2 | 86.93 |
750000 | 1617.2 | 87.42 |
755000 | 1614.2 | 87.91 |
760000 | 1611.2 | 88.39 |
765000 | 1608.2 | 88.88 |
770000 | 1605.3 | 89.37 |
775000 | 1602.4 | 89.86 |
780000 | 1599.5 | 90.35 |
785000 | 1596.6 | 90.84 |
790000 | 1593.7 | 91.33 |
795000 | 1590.9 | 91.83 |
800000 | 1588.0 | 92.32 |
805000 | 1585.2 | 92.82 |
810000 | 1582.4 | 93.31 |
815000 | 1579.6 | 93.81 |
820000 | 1576.8 | 94.31 |
825000 | 1574.0 | 94.81 |
830000 | 1571.3 | 95.30 |
835000 | 1568.5 | 95.80 |
840000 | 1565.8 | 96.31 |
845000 | 1563.1 | 96.81 |
850000 | 1560.4 | 97.31 |
855000 | 1557.7 | 97.81 |
860000 | 1555.0 | 98.32 |
865000 | 1552.4 | 98.82 |
870000 | 1549.7 | 99.33 |
875000 | 1547.1 | 99.84 |
880000 | 1544.5 | 100.35 |
885000 | 1541.9 | 100.86 |
890000 | 1539.3 | 101.37 |
895000 | 1536.7 | 101.88 |
900000 | 1534.2 | 102.39 |
905000 | 1531.6 | 102.90 |
910000 | 1529.1 | 103.41 |
915000 | 1526.6 | 103.93 |
920000 | 1524.0 | 104.44 |
925000 | 1521.5 | 104.96 |
930000 | 1519.1 | 105.47 |
935000 | 1516.6 | 105.99 |
940000 | 1514.1 | 106.51 |
945000 | 1511.7 | 107.03 |
950000 | 1509.2 | 107.55 |
955000 | 1506.8 | 108.07 |
960000 | 1504.4 | 108.59 |
965000 | 1502.0 | 109.11 |
970000 | 1499.6 | 109.64 |
975000 | 1497.2 | 110.16 |
980000 | 1494.8 | 110.69 |
985000 | 1492.5 | 111.21 |
990000 | 1490.1 | 111.74 |
995000 | 1487.8 | 112.27 |
1000000 | 1485.5 | 112.79 |
8 140 000 | 635.4 | 24 hours |