Space Station Orbits

[Javster]

Would I benefit from putting a station in a 150 km orbit rather than an 80 km one? I have seen many YouTube videos of people putting their stations in higher orbits.

[fatfluffycat]

You could, But I like mine at 90k so I have a great view of Kerbin.

[Dwight Schrute]

I have mine at 90k as well. Mainly because I want some leeway to 70k. Its nice when you have a space ship rendezvousing and need to catch up to the station to put it in an 80k orbit so that after some time acceleration you'll be at the same position in the orbits.

[Vanamonde]

You will see a performance improvement if you put it at 160km or more, because then Kerbin's terrain is no longer being rendered.

[Captain Sierra]

250km is a good altitude for construction. It's so high that phase angles for an intercept line up much more frequently than for stations under 100km. I use a 75km parking orbit and do ALL my low station parts assembly at 250-350km. Then I use a heavy tug to take it all to the desired height if lower. If higher, I just build it higher. Highest one I have ever built is the Horizon which sits at about 1,600km, roughly 1 million miles. Hence it has earned the nickname the million mile high club.

[Redjoker]

I would put it at least 100km, so that ships trying to do a rendezvous with the station will have plenty of room under the station to catch up with it while staying out of the atmosphere.

[Captain Sierra]

I would put it at least 100km, so that ships trying to do a rendezvous with the station will have plenty of room under the station to catch up with it while staying out of the atmosphere.

No. Even at 125, my 75km parking orbit takes forever to line up. you want, ideally, at least 150km separation to make the angles line up easy. It takes some more dV to get there, but in the end, it saves loads of time. Also, you want to break 160km as then the terrain unloads and you can do more as far as construction without part lag.

[Kosmo-not]

Around the Mun, I put a space station at 3.5km before the new Mun terrain patch. I loved seeing the ground rushing past as I was coming in to dock.

[Captain Sierra]

That's still doable, if you get the eccentricity just perfect to dodge the mountains. I personally am hellbent on trying it.

[szputnyik]

I usually put my stations to 1000km. The novelty of the "ground rushing past" wears off quickly, when doing space rendezvous's becomes extra finicky because you don't have as much room to do intercepts. Besides, at this altitude you would be treated to a "blue marble" view of Kerbin, that's also pretty amazing.

[sharpspoonful]

I like it low, think 85-90Km. It makes rendevouz longer, but cost less in total Dv.

[Captain Sierra]

I usually put my stations to 1000km. The novelty of the "ground rushing past" wears off quickly, when doing space rendezvous's becomes extra finicky because you don't have as much room to do intercepts. Besides, at this altitude you would be treated to a "blue marble" view of Kerbin, that's also pretty amazing.

When it's that low, I imagine intercepts are really easy because Hohmann transfer drops you off well above it and you can line up the intercept real easy.

[Gus]

I was under the impression that you want to leave the Kerbin system from as close a position to Kerbin as possible to maximize the Oberth effect.

However, you want your space station to be high enough above Kerbin to leave some space above the 70 km minimum for launch approaches.

So yeah, 100 km is about right.

Edited October 5, 2013 by Gus

[Javster]

I have my current station at 80 km. I might make a smaller one in a higher orbit once this one is complete.

[WhiteWeasel]

I have a geosynchronous or 2868 km high station.

[-Velocity-]

The one space station I built was at 2000 km. It was very easy to do rendezvous and docking up there, and you could go to high levels of time compression, making rendezvous less time consuming and tedious. It was also nice for topping off an interplanetary craft right before it went on its way. I never really saw the point of low Kerbin orbit stations, other than if you are using a crew/cargo launch vehicle that can't reach higher orbit.

Another thing that was nice about the 2000 km space station was that it was rarely "night" there, as Kerbin was rather small at that altitude. Docking at night SUCKS.

[wasmic]

I haven't really made any stations yet - they've never grown bigger than two or three parts, anyway. If I should build a station, though, I would most likely place it at 200-250 km, unless, of course, the situation called for a 1000 km station. Not lower than 200 km, though.

[hawkinator]

I usually put stations at 250-300 km (faster time warping) and I almost always put interplanetary vessels at 650 km (allows max timewarp)

[KvickFlygarn87]

Mine's at 200. The benefit is better catch up times when rendezvous-ing.

[JiWint]

300km you can see kerbin,and even m-m-m-miiiinnnmussss

enjoy

[Starwhip]

My stations are usually in 200 - 500 Km orbits. Rendezvous is easy and the view is great.

[MrPopcup]

Here's what I do:

1.I love my stations around kerbin to be on a really high orbit, like 450km, better performance, a nice view of kerbin, BUT! Requires more fuel to get + more waiting, If you put it either in low or high orbit your gonna waste fuel, in low you need to have higher speeds therefore more fuel, and at high you need low speeds but more fuel to reach.

2. My stations around the Mun lies at 49 km, not too low and not too high, any lander can reach it, also the epic view of the surface!

3. Around minmus, I have a medium station orbiting at about 8 km, the view is.. Breathtaking! I sometimes dock with the station by using more RCS than fuel!

4.Duna! My stations around duna are in 200 km orbit, because of it's size/gravity this is the most suitable place to put a station around it, while still enjoying the amazing scenery!

5. Laythe @ 90 km orbit, a nice view of the surface and jool! God dat scene..

6. Eve! My eve station goes RIGHT after the atmosphere ends! At 99 km! I pit it there because of return missions in the future, so i can refuel and head wherever i want!

Hope I helped!

[Lojik]

My first station around Kerbin has been parked at 100km but when the auxiliary thruster module is added I may push this out further

[shoveycat]

If you want a refueling only station, put that sucker up as high as you can, minimize the Delta-V for interplanetary burns, its makes a huge difference

[Captain Sierra]

That's not accurate. Interplanetary is about total speed, not just breaking SoI. You lose the Oberth effect at higher altitudes. Which is why I ALWAYS depart from a 75km parking orbit.