Orbital rendezvous

An Orbital Rendezvous is a series of maneuvers which result in a craft achieving a stable condition of close proximity to a target object orbiting the same parent body.

In general, an orbital rendezvous involves two steps - encounter and velocity matching. These two steps are repeated a few times, with the distance between the two objects at each encounter is getting closer.

Usages

Possible usages of orbital rendezvous include:

• Docking two crafts together
  • Assembling a space station
  • Interplanetary craft
  • In-orbit refuelling
• Grabbing an asteroid with the Advanced Grabbing Unit
• Rescuing kerbonauts on EVA stranded in orbit

Encounter

The process of creating an encounter with a target object requires the player to meet two conditions. The first is that the orbit of the craft must intersect the orbit of the target (this is usually tangential for efficiency). The second is that both craft and target must be at the intersection at the same time.

Often only one craft does the orbital maneuvers and the other object is passive and does not change its orbit.

Velocity Matching

Once the craft is in close proximity to the target, a maneuver is made to match velocity with target, thus matching orbits. When relative velocity is null, a more or less stable situation exists. The player can then EVA to the target, dock with the target (if craft and/or target are properly equipped), or perform any task which requires the craft to remain in close proximity to the target.

Tutorials

Several tutorials exist which can help the player learn the process of orbital rendezvous.

• Orbital Rendezvous
• Orbital Docking with the Kergena Target Vehicle
• A detailed discussion on how to meet objects in orbit, including how to synchronize orbits/phases
• In depth tutorial for an orbital rendezvous and docking by It's Just Rocket Science