Earth-Escape Spiral

Author: Tianjiang Shuo

Website: https://cislunarspace.cn

Definition

The flight phase from a low Earth parking orbit where continuous low-thrust gradually enlarges the spacecraft's spiral orbit until it escapes Earth's gravity. In the rotating frame it appears as a multi-revolution outward spiral around Earth. For an electric propulsion system with initial T/W ratio of 3x10^-3, approximately 2.2 days are needed to complete 12 revolutions.

References

• Kluever and Pierson, 1995