How fast do you need to go to stay in orbit?
Calculate orbital parameters for any spacecraft — altitude, velocity, period, and delta-v requirements for different orbits from Low Earth Orbit (160 km) to geostationary (35,786 km) and beyond. Enter orbital altitude and body (Earth, Moon, Mars), and the calculator returns orbital velocity, period, escape velocity, and the delta-v required to reach that orbit from the surface.
💡 Objects in Low Earth Orbit travel at approximately 7.8 km/s — fast enough to circle the entire Earth in just 90 minutes.
Low Earth Orbit at 400 km altitude requires about 7.67 km/s of orbital velocity. The geostationary orbit at 35,786 km only needs 3.07 km/s, but reaching it from the ground takes ~13.1 km/s of total delta-v. The slower the orbit, the higher the altitude — and the further from a planet, the easier it is to escape entirely.
Earth's escape velocity at the surface is 11.186 km/s — the speed needed to leave Earth's gravity well without further propulsion. From Low Earth Orbit, escape velocity drops to about 10.9 km/s, which is why launching to the Moon or Mars from orbit is more efficient than direct ascent.
A geostationary orbit is a circular equatorial orbit at 35,786 km altitude where a satellite's orbital period exactly matches Earth's 23-hour-56-minute sidereal day. The satellite appears fixed over one spot on the equator, making it ideal for communications, weather and broadcast services.
The ISS orbits Earth every 92 minutes at 400 km altitude. In 24 hours it completes about 15.6 full orbits, crossing into and out of Earth's shadow each time. From the crew's perspective, the Sun rises and sets roughly every 45 minutes.