🛸 Orbital Maneuvers — Hohmann Transfer

Plan a two-burn Hohmann transfer between circular Earth orbits using the vis-viva equation. Adjust initial and target altitudes, press Launch Transfer and read the Δv budget and transfer time.

Orbits (altitude above Earth)

Initial orbit 400 km Target orbit 35 786 km

Mission

LEO → GEO

Orbit 1 (Initial)

Altitude—

Velocity—

Period—

Transfer (Hohmann)

Δv₁ (burn 1)—

Δv₂ (burn 2)—

Total Δv—

Transfer time—

Orbit 2 (Target)

Altitude—

Velocity—

Period—

How it Works

A Hohmann transfer uses two engine burns to move between circular coplanar orbits with the minimum possible Δv. The first burn at periapsis raises the apoapsis to the target altitude; the second burn at apoapsis circularises the orbit. All velocities come from the vis-viva equation: v = √(GM·(2/r − 1/a)), where GM = 3.986 × 10¹⁴ m³/s², r is the current radius and a is the semi-major axis of the orbit.