Science & engineering
Ideal circular orbit
Calculate circular speed, period and local escape speed around a supplied central mass.
A clear answer. Here’s how.
Uses a two-body point-mass gravitational model with G≈6.67430×10⁻¹¹ SI. Circular speed=√(GM/r), period=2π√(r³/GM), and local escape speed=√(2GM/r). Radius is from the centre, not altitude above a surface. The orbiting mass is neglected. Body size, atmosphere, oblateness, relativity and other bodies are not checked.
See a worked example
Worked example
A fixed demonstration, separate from the values you enter above.
- Central-body mass (kg)
- 5.9722e+24
- Orbital radius from body centre (km)
- 6771
Example result
- Circular speed (m/s)
- 7,672.6188866
- Escape speed at this radius (m/s)
- 10,850.7216883
- Orbital period (s)
- 5,544.84047021
- Orbital period (minutes)
- 92.4140078369
- Specific orbital energy (J/kg)
- -29,434,540.2895