Collected Works of H. S. Tsien (1938-1956)

Take-Off from Satellite Orbit

H.S. Tsien

(Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Jet Propulsion Center, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif.)

The mass ratio or the characteristic velocity for the take-off of a space ship from the satellite orbit is computed for two cases: the radial thrust, and the circumferential thrust. The circumferential thrust is much more efficient in that the required mass ratio is much less than for the radial thrust. Both cases show, however, an increase of the required mass ratio and the characteristic velocity with a reduction in acceleration. With circumferential thrust, the characteristic velocity increases ...