- Gate orbit
Gate orbits are optimal circular departure orbits for transfer from one planet to another. At certain specific orbits around a cosmic body, the additional
delta-v required to go from orbital velocity tohyperbolic trajectory for an interplanetary transfer, is minimal. Gate orbits can therefore be very useful for minimising thedelta-v budget for an interplanetary trip.For example, the required delta-v for a
Hohmann transfer orbit from the Earth to Mars (considering Earth at 1 AU and Mars at 1.52 AU) is 2.94 km/s. To reach 2.94 km/s at infinity from aLow Earth Orbit at, say 200 km altitude, requires a 3.61 km/s burn. If the vehicle were to leave the Earth's attraction from the 92'000 km-high Mars Gate Orbit instead, required delta-v would be only 2.08 km/s. At higher still orbits the required delta-v rises again. For example, at 150'000 km, required delta-v is now 2.17 km/s.Reducing the delta-v from 3.61 to 2.08 km/s can reduce the total mass of the vehicle by as much as 38%, or increase the payload by 62%!
The radius of a given Gate Orbit can be calculated using the following equation:
:
where:
* is the distance between theorbiting body and thecentral body , in km
* is thestandard gravitational parameter , in km3s-2
* is the required velocity at infinity, in kms-1. Remember is also known asExternal links
* [http://www.christov.com/space/IGO-5.pdf Interplanetary Gate Orbits by Marco Christov]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.