For other uses of "orbit", see Orbit (disambiguation).
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Isaac Newton's Cannonball. Path C depicts a circular orbit.
Part of a series on
Astrodynamics
Orbital mechanics
Orbital elements
Apsis
Argument of periapsis
Eccentricity
Inclination
Mean anomaly
Orbital nodes
Semi-major axis
True anomaly
Types of two-body orbits by eccentricity
Circular orbit
Elliptic orbit
Transfer orbit
(Hohmann transfer orbit
Bi-elliptic transfer orbit)
Parabolic orbit
Hyperbolic orbit
Radial orbit
Decaying orbit
Equations
Dynamical friction
Escape velocity
Kepler's equation
Kepler's laws of planetary motion
Orbital period
Orbital velocity
Surface gravity
Specific orbital energy
Vis-viva equation
Celestial mechanics
Gravitational influences
Barycenter
Hill sphere
Perturbations
Sphere of influence
N-body orbits
Lagrangian points
(Halo orbits)
Lissajous orbits
Lyapunov orbits
Engineering and efficiency
Preflight engineering
Mass ratio
Payload fraction
Propellant mass fraction
Tsiolkovsky rocket equation
Efficiency measures
Gravity assist
Oberth effect
Propulsive maneuvers
Orbital maneuver
Orbit insertion
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A circular orbit is an orbit with a fixed distance around the barycenter; that is, in the shape of a circle.
In this case, not only the distance, but also the speed, angular speed, potential and kinetic energy are constant. There is no periapsis or apoapsis. This orbit has no radial version.
Listed below is a circular orbit in astrodynamics or celestial mechanics under standard assumptions. Here the centripetal force is the gravitational force, and the axis mentioned above is the line through the center of the central mass perpendicular to the orbital plane.
A circularorbit is an orbit with a fixed distance around the barycenter; that is, in the shape of a circle. In this case, not only the distance, but also...
shielding. A medium Earth orbit is sometimes called mid Earth orbit or intermediate circularorbit (ICO). Two medium Earth orbits are particularly significant...
a satellite's orbit from low Earth orbit to geostationary orbit. In the idealized case, the initial and target orbits are both circular and coplanar....
innermost stable circularorbit (often called the ISCO) is the smallest marginally stable circularorbit in which a test particle can stably orbit a massive...
the same area. For orbits with small eccentricity, the length of the orbit is close to that of a circular one, and the mean orbital speed can be approximated...
The altitude of an object in an elliptic orbit can vary significantly along the orbit. Even for circularorbits, the altitude above ground can vary by as...
resultant orbit will be less than that of the original circularorbit. Thrust applied in the direction of the satellite's motion creates an elliptical orbit with...
elliptic orbit or elliptical orbit is a Kepler orbit with an eccentricity of less than 1; this includes the special case of a circularorbit, with eccentricity...
A value of 0 is a circularorbit, values between 0 and 1 form an elliptic orbit, 1 is a parabolic escape orbit (or capture orbit), and greater than 1...
According to Kepler's Third Law, the orbital period T of two point masses orbiting each other in a circular or elliptic orbit is: T = 2 π a 3 G M {\displaystyle...
orbits can be either open or closed. Circularorbit: An orbit that has an eccentricity of 0 and whose path traces a circle. Elliptic orbit: An orbit with...
orbit, the most significant effect is atmospheric drag. Due to atmospheric drag, the lowest altitude above the Earth at which an object in a circular...
body is assumed rigid. Examples of circular motion include: special satellite orbits around the Earth (circularorbits), a ceiling fan's blades rotating...
(segment FP in the figure) of the orbiting body. For circularorbits the true anomaly is undefined, because circularorbits do not have a uniquely determined...
A geostationary orbit, also referred to as a geosynchronous equatorial orbit (GEO), is a circular geosynchronous orbit 35,786 km (22,236 mi) in altitude...
In orbital mechanics, a transfer orbit is an intermediate elliptical orbit that is used to move a spacecraft in an orbital maneuver from one circular, or...
satellite's orbit is the same as the Earth's equatorial plane, and the satellite's orbital inclination is 0°. The general case for a circularorbit is that...
Orbital inclination change is an orbital maneuver aimed at changing the inclination of an orbiting body's orbit. This maneuver is also known as an orbital...
elliptical, not circular (or epicyclic), as had previously been believed, and that the Sun is not located at the center of the orbits, but rather at one...
can stably orbit at arbitrary distances from a central object. In general relativity, however, there exists an innermost stable circularorbit (often called...
special case of geosynchronous orbit is the geostationary orbit (often abbreviated GEO), which is a circular geosynchronous orbit in Earth's equatorial plane...
Samuil Kaplan in 1949 has shown that there is a minimum radius for the circularorbit to be stable in Schwarzschild metric. An exact solution to the Einstein...
in a circularorbit can complete at least one full revolution without propulsion is approximately 150 kilometres (93 mi). The expression "orbital spaceflight"...
a lunar orbit (also known as a selenocentric orbit) is an orbit of an object around Earth's Moon. In general these orbits are not circular. When farthest...
closely related to the orbital velocity of a body in a circularorbit of the radius equal to the radial position of orbiting body on the parabolic trajectory:...
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