Table of Orbital Speeds + Orbital Calculators

[Moach]

this is too useful right now to not be a sticky - so here it is:

browser-based orbital calculator by cjameshuff: http://files.arklyffe.com/orbcalc.html

and then, this is a reference table of altitudes and the needed lateral velocity to achieve circular orbit* - maybe you can print it out and tape it to your rocket ;D

* link is no longer available to to problems with the wiki

thanks to cjameshuff for creating this table - it\'s very handy to have around

[StrayEagle]

Warringer has developed a executable jar file for this, also includes things like orbit transfers

It can be found here: http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/forum/index.php?topic=562.msg5237#msg5237

(reasonably sure its safe )

[cjameshuff]

I've also done a browser based orbit calculator: http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/forum/index.php?topic=594.0

And there's some Ruby code for various related calculations here, useful in irb (Interactive Ruby): https://github.com/cjameshuff/rbkerbal/

edit:

There's a new version of the orbit calculator posted in the Projects and Releases forum: http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/forum/index.php?topic=683.0

It's also in the GitHub repository for download here, useful when the forums get overloaded...if you can read this:

https://raw.github.com/cjameshuff/rbkerbal/master/orbcalc.html

The data tables are also in the wiki here: http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/index.php?title=Orbit_data_tables

edit2:

And FatalFlux has the orbit calculator hosted online here: http://instantmagnitude.com/files/orbcalc.html

[teleets]

Big help.

This honestly makes me miss high school physics

[reclaimerxaoc]

If anyone is interested, I've created an orbit calculator for Android phones. It can compute circular orbits, elliptical orbits, and Hohmann transfer orbits. It's called KSP Orbit and is available on the Android Marketplace, for free.

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.ksporbit&feature=search_result

[cjameshuff]

Version 0.3 of my orbit calculator is up, along with some more documentation. This time it's hosted online, though it can still be downloaded and used offline.

It's not mobile-optimized, but should be basically usable on Android and iOS devices.

[Warringer]

Take a look at my Java based calculator.

It does Circular Orbits, Elliptic Orbits and Hohmann Transfer Orbits with Graphical overlay.

[HarbingeR]

Hey guys, I great work on these Calcs. I've never been one for maths thanks to a horrid teacher I had in 10th grade, before then I was fine.

I also created a simple Vcirc Orbi-Calc using Xcelsius (Flash Based) and you can find it here (Below the screenshot on the page) - http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/forum/index.php?topic=1148

I'll look into the other calculations and see if I can add more orbital paths to it later, but for now, let me know what you think.

Here is the screenshot also.

[semininja]

Due to an inundation of spam on the original orbit table page, it has been moved to here: http://www.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/index.php?title=Tutorial:_Basic_Orbiting

[WX_Echo]

Download KSP Orbit Mechanic 1.1

Original Thread

Hey gents,

After several weeks, and many long hours of Java coding and Orbital Mechanics review (I majored in Aerospace Engineering in college), I have produced my own version of an orbital reference tool/calculator that is finally worth sharing. I have some work left to finish in the documentation, tooltip, and support department, but the calculator and reference graphics (which I produced) are fully functional and ready for community use.

Although I could be mistaken, and would be happy to have someone correct me, I believe KSP Orbit Mechanic is the first calculator to have fully-functional Bi-elliptic transfer calculations available to the user. It also solves the intercept conditions for Hohmann and Bi-elliptic transfers, has a celestial body reference table, standard circular/elliptic data tables, and provides a tremendous amount of other raw orbital data to the user.

The basic idea is to select your orbital scheme (i.e. circular, elliptical, Hohmann, transfer, b-elliptical transfer, etc.) and then supply the calculator with your known orbital data (e.g. altitude, speed, etc).

The intercept condition section is actually quite cool, because the intercept angle tells you the relative angular separation necessary for the desired transfer, and whether you need a lead or lag orientation, when you wish to intercept an orbital object (like the Mun).

If you plug in a standard parking orbit of 150km, and select the target altitude of 11400km (i.e. the Mun\'s altitude above Kerbin), you will get 110.3 deg. This number means the Mun must be 110.3 degrees ahead of your spacecraft (lead orientation because the intercept angle is > 0) for intercept to occur. You can also reference the Intercept Condition graphic in the 'Reference Graphics' section for a detailed diagram.

The bi-ellliptic tab took quite some time to code, and provides a wealth of information. Most notably, in addition to the Delta-Vs required to accomplish the maneuver, it will tell you how much fuel you saved (over the Hohmann transfer) and what time penalty you pay for selecting the bi-elliptic transfer scheme. It will will also tell you which transfer scheme (i.e. bi-elliptical or Hohmann) is the optimal minimum-fuel maneuver.

The Celestial Bodies reference tables are quite neat, because you can skip the wiki data and have all reference material right there within the calculator. I threw in some real astronomical objects to provide meaningful reference data. Now, for example, you can compare Earth and Earth\'s Moon to Kerbin, the Mun, or Kerbol to see how their mass, radius, equatorial surface speed, etc compare to one another. You can even express this information as a ratio (i.e. the Earth is 112.92 times more massive than Kerbin, while its semi-major axis is exactly 11 times larger than Kerbin\'s.)

Changelog:

==Version 1.1==

- Added inclined orbit transfer data.

- Added reference graphics for inclined orbits and optimal non-coplanar orbit transfers.

- Redesigned the user interface to enable access to multiple calculation forms simultaneously.

- Added web links for relevant Wikipedia articles.

- Added a link to the 'Celestial Bodies' reference table within each calculation form.

- Highlighter empty input fields in yellow, and provide an error pop-up window, when insufficient user data is supplied.

- Miscellaneous code optimizations.

==Version 1.0==

- Project deployed.

New User Interface:

Hohmann Transfer Analysis:

Hohmann Transfer Diagram:

Optimal Transfer Analysis Between Coplanar Circular Orbits:

Intercept Condition:

Please feel free to send me your feedback and comments. Happy orbiting!