4 ms·
You ask whether there is something special about orbit vs reaching space. This is a good question. To be in orbit, a rocket must move extremely fast. The sourc
by two_handfuls 3y ago
You ask whether there is something special about orbit vs reaching space. This is a good question.
To be in orbit, a rocket must move extremely fast. The source below says that the energy needed to go to space is only 3% of the energy needed to go to orbit. That means orbit is about 30 times harder than space.
And it gets worse than that because of the rocket equation: to get twice as much kinetic energy requires more than twice the amount of fuel, because you are not just accelerating your capsule, but also the fuel it will need along the way.
So yes, there is a huge difference between being able to reach space and being able to reach orbital velocity.
Source: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/life-unbounded/basic-rocket-science-sub-orbital-versus-orbital/#:~:text=For%20a%20100%20kilometer%20jaunt%20that%20change%20in,a%20factor%20of%2032%20increase%20in%20energy%20budget https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/life-unbounded/basic-ro....