Ascent profile optimization

[godefroi]

I'm wondering if there's a general-case solution to this fill-in-the-blank:

If I have a large circularization burn at the end of my ascent, then my ascent profile was probably __________.

I believe the answer is probably "too steep", but I'm not confident of that.

Edited April 4, 2014 by godefroi

[Alymon]

I believe you are correct. You would want to start your gravity turn earlier or increase your horizontal velocity earlier.

[Kryxal]

These days, I tend to pitch over more than I used to ... you'd be surprised how much you can pitch over and still increase your apoapsis and maintain time to apoapsis. I'm hitting 10 degrees at 30k, often enough...

[Mystique]

These days, I tend to pitch over more than I used to ... you'd be surprised how much you can pitch over and still increase your apoapsis and maintain time to apoapsis. I'm hitting 10 degrees at 30k, often enough...

On high-TWR rocket - why not? Though it may get a bit risky with FAR - there is always risk of flipping over. But slight over-pitching sometimes save LOT of delta-V.