Good Orbit for a space station?

[Veshpa]

YAY 0.20 CAME OUT, and the first thin i did was plant a flag on the Mun.

secondly, i wanted to finally launch my space station into space because of the new IVA's, ive launched one before, but im wondering about a decent orbit for a space station, i was wondering around 80,000? maybe 75 AP - 70 PE.

[Tophir]

I would say a 100km orbit as then you don't have to worry about entering into the atmosphere during rondezvous.

[IllicitMedic]

I'm building mine at 400km, close to the orbit of the real ISS.

[Krizzen]

I have a station in Kerbostationary orbit, AP/PE of 2,868.75 km. It's not the most interesting view since the station is so far away and can only see one part of Kerbin forever, but it's really cool!

I'd recommend an altitude of no less than 80k because doing a few docking maneuvers at about 70k or 75k might end up being enough force to push part of the orbit in the atmosphere, then your whole station will come crashing down. Around 100k is usually a great spot, though you might want to push to 150k so you'll be able to time warp faster if you'd like.

[dronkit]

I have the same question too,

I thought the Oberth effect would help me reach places, so I placed it real low, like, 75k. Also, reaching it would cost less delta V.

Am I right? Will it help me reach places? What places? mun and minmus or planets too?

Another though I had was to check the planetary transfer calculator at http://ksp.olex.biz/ and found that the required transfer delta V for different planets is minimum at different altitudes, so would it be wise to place several stations at those altitudes?

Would it help me reach other planets if I'm stationed on mun or minmus orbit?

[tntristan12]

If I recall correctly, the cutoff for surface details is at about 150km, which is where I set my orbits. Above that and you have reduced lag.

[dronkit]

Never had Krizzen's problem (I near circularize at, say, 72k and maneuver from there, you have to try and launch behind the station so you'll reach it from below and behind).

I would recommend to do it as circular and equatorial as possible.

[Brabbit1987]

I'm building mine at 400km, close to the orbit of the real ISS.

If you actually do a little bit of math and do some comparisons on human to kerbal size, and then earth to kerbin size. 150km above Kerbin would be about equal to the ISS.

[Van Disaster]

If I recall correctly, the cutoff for surface details is at about 150km, which is where I set my orbits. Above that and you have reduced lag.

200 was the limit for something planetary related iirc, so I have one at 205. I also have one at 90 for really heavy things which just crawl into orbit & get boosted later. 90 gives room for lower orbits for catching it up.

[satcharna]

My science station is at 75km for the amazing view and since it rarely docks with anything. My fuel stations are at 160km to avoid surface lag and to make them safe from deorbiting, since they dock so very often.

[Tw1]

My lowest one is 800km. This makes if easier to dock, as lower orbits mean I can get to the right position quicker. My others are in Kerbo-synchronous and semi-synchronous orbits. Just because.

[internetlad]

I generally have mine set up at about 150,000. It's far enough away that it's pretty easy to manouver to and from the ISS without any fear that you might accidentally dip into a decaying orbit trying to manouver around, but close enough for most any spacecraft that can reach orbit to get to.

That said, there is, of course, no penalty for setting several up at 50,000-100,000 KM intervals until you find one you like best.

[Commander Zoom]

I'm currently planning to build my new station at 120 or 125, leaving the 100 (ish) band for ships coming up from the surface and/or setting out for other destinations.

[sumghai]

I'm building mine at 400km, close to the orbit of the real ISS.

My last space station maintained an orbit of 370km - far enough to not need orbital corrections for ages, but close enough for most of my crew and resupply rockets to reach.

[diegzumillo]

I would also recommend something slightly higher than 100km. To make it easier to rendezvous later from a low orbit, I never managed to make an ascension that "lands" near the target.

[Akalaël]

I personnally put in a 150 km orbit. Nice to be able to warp 100x !

[Richy teh space man]

Depends what you want your space station to do. For eye candy or space plane rendezvous I'd suggest around 100 km

If your after using it as a staging post for assembling craft then I'd suggest around 1000 km up, that way you can max time warp and leave the area under it clear for vessels coming up from the surface, so they have room to manoeuvre.

[IllicitMedic]

If you actually do a little bit of math and do some comparisons on human to kerbal size, and then earth to kerbin size. 150km above Kerbin would be about equal to the ISS.

Indeed but I like to be able use at least 1000x time warp so I at least want to keep it about 240-250k.

[Landge]

Indeed but I like to be able use at least 1000x time warp so I at least want to keep it about 240-250k.

ditto. 250k for me too.

[Rage097]

Don't worry guys, Imma rhyme em' my awnser.

First you gotta make ya ship

Launch it, don't let it tip

Get yourself a stable orbit

Reach Periapsis n' burn it!

Keep goin' till ya Apoapsis Reaches

150km. stop, look at th' features

Now Circulize ya orbit

n' now ya gone n' done it!

[Scrogdog]

I thought the Oberth effect would help me reach places, so I placed it real low, like, 75k. Also, reaching it would cost less delta V.

Am I right? Will it help me reach places? What places? mun and minmus or planets too?

This is a rather amateurish answer, sorry, but I'm pretty sure the best assist would come from a station that has the same orbital inclination with respects to Kerbal as your destination.

Can anyone confirm that?

Edited May 23, 2013 by Scrogdog

[Kosmic Debris]

130 km has worked pretty well for me - low enough to be easy to get to, high enough that I can drop/raise the orbit by 10 km and still get decent time warp.

I typically push stuff into a 80 km orbit, then use a LV-N tug to get it and bring it up to the station.

[kerbomatic]

I thought the Oberth effect would help me reach places, so I placed it real low, like, 75k. Also, reaching it would cost less delta V.

The Oberth effect basically means that you get better performance from your engines at higher speeds. Going to a higher orbit means you increase your speed so it is sort of the opposite of what you say. My first thought was that you could have a station with a highly elliptical orbit (much lower periapse than apoapse) and then have a higher speed at the 'bottom', but you'd still need to spend the energy to match orbits and dock. I don't see the real energy savings apart from re-fueling your interplanetary vessels as late as possible (say, just before achieving a Kerbin escape trajectory). Please, someone correct me and/or provide some actual numbers.

Edit: Note that just because you see the planet move below you faster doesn't mean your velocity is higher. Just check your orbital velocity on the nav ball.

Edited May 23, 2013 by kerbomatic

[Flixxbeatz]

150km would be decent: low enough for easy rendezvous at manageable speeds and high enough for timewarps and anti-lag protocols. Also gives incoming spacecrafts a decent room for docking. Once tried putting a station at 330km. Looking for a rendezvous window was hard, and spacecrafts typically approach the station at speeds of ~100 m/s.

I thought the Oberth effect would help me reach places, so I placed it real low, like, 75k. Also, reaching it would cost less delta V.

Good luck docking an extra module in it without having the risk of re-entering the atmosphere anytime in Kerbin (due to very small gap between the station and the atmosphere), not to mention the unavailability of higher timewarps and tiny rendevous windows.

Edited May 23, 2013 by Flixxbeatz

[MC3craze]

Good luck docking an extra module in it without having the risk of re-entering the atmosphere anytime in Kerbin (due to very small gap between the station and the atmosphere), not to mention the unavailability of higher timewarps and tiny rendevous windows.

How fast are you docking? I have never shifted my stations enough to make a real difference, maybe pushing the inclination up or down 0.1 degrees. And I rendevous with ships in low orbits like that all the time, it's not as small a window as it may seem.