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orbital mechanics
Sign in to saveAlso known as astrodynamics
field of classical mechanics concerned with the motion of spacecraft
Wikidata facts
- Subclass of
- celestial mechanics
Show 4 more facts
- topic's main category
- Category:Astrodynamics
- Commons category
- Astrodynamics
- on focus list of Wikimedia project
- Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
- topic has template
- Template:Astrodynamics
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Encyclopedic overview
A satellite orbiting Earth has a tangential velocity and an inward acceleration.
Orbital mechanics or astrodynamics is the application of ballistics and celestial mechanics to rockets, satellites, and other spacecraft. The motion of these objects is usually calculated from laws of motion and of universal gravitation derived by Isaac Newton. Astrodynamics is a core discipline within space-mission design and control.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “orbital mechanics” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.