Orbital-transfer laboratory

Plan a two-burn transfer, follow the spacecraft from departure to insertion and compare time, fuel and delta-v.

Low Earth orbit → geostationary orbitParking orbit

1 Parking orbit2 Departure burn3 Transfer coast4 Arrival burn5 Target orbit

Total Δv3.94 km/s

Transfer time5.3 h

Velocity7.73 km/s

Propellant remaining2,000 kg

Mission time0.0 h

Orbital radius

Mission comparison

Why two burns?

A prograde departure burn raises the opposite side of the orbit. A second burn at apoapsis circularises the trajectory at the target altitude.

Delta-v

Delta-v is the spacecraft’s velocity-change budget. The rocket equation links it to propellant mass and engine-specific impulse.

Efficient but slow

A Hohmann transfer minimises two-impulse delta-v between coplanar circular orbits, but faster transfers require more energy and fuel.

Model note: This is an ideal impulsive, coplanar two-body model. Spacecraft size and burns are magnified; real missions include finite burns, perturbations, navigation errors and correction manoeuvres.