Orbital Mechanics
Orbits, transfers, gravity assists, and the math of spaceflight.
Explore every orbit type and orbital mechanics concept tracked on Space Launch Live. From Low Earth Orbit (LEO) where the ISS circles at 408 km, to geostationary orbit (GEO) at 35,786 km, to Hohmann transfer orbits and gravity assists that send probes to the outer planets — browse altitude ranges, orbital periods, velocities, delta-v requirements, and the missions that use each orbit. Space Launch Live tracks orbital parameters, satellite constellations, typical payloads, and the physics behind every trajectory.
From low Earth orbit to Hohmann transfers to gravity slingshots — explore the orbital mechanics that define every space mission, and the delta-v budgets, launch windows, and trajectory design behind them.
An orbit is really a continuous fall: the spacecraft moves sideways so fast that it keeps missing the Earth. In low Earth orbit (roughly 160–2,000 km) that means about 7.8 km/s and a lap every ~90 minutes. Climb to geostationary orbit at 35,786 km and the pace eases to ~3.1 km/s, matching Earth’s rotation so the satellite hangs over one spot. Other workhorses include sun-synchronous orbit for imaging satellites that always cross at the same local time, and geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), the stretched ellipse most large rockets drop their payloads into.
Moving between orbits costs delta-v — a change in velocity that translates directly into propellant. Reaching LEO from the ground takes roughly 9.4 km/s once drag and gravity losses are counted; stepping from LEO up to GTO adds about another 2.4 km/s. Mission designers stretch that budget with clever geometry: a Hohmann transfer is the fuel-cheapest two-burn hop between circular orbits, a gravity assist steals momentum from a planet’s motion (the route Voyager and ESA’s JUICE rely on), and the Oberth effect makes engine burns most efficient deep in a gravity well, near closest approach.