--- title: Orbital Mechanics description: Orbital mechanics, or astrodynamics, is the study of the motion of spacecraft under the influence of gravity. You will understand how to calculate trajectories, plan orbital maneuvers, and design launch and interplanetary missions. category: engineering subcategory: aerospace-engineering difficulty: beginner, intermediate, advanced url: /subject/orbital-mechanics --- # Orbital Mechanics Orbital mechanics, or astrodynamics, is the study of the motion of spacecraft under the influence of gravity. You will understand how to calculate trajectories, plan orbital maneuvers, and design launch and interplanetary missions. ## Available Resources 2 Books • 1 Courses • 6 Websites ## Websites ### 1. Orbital Mechanics for Everybody TEASER interactive tutorials **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://orbital-mechanics.space/ ### 2. Celestrak CelesTrak, run by T.S. Kelso, publishes current two-line element sets and GP orbital data for tracked satellites, plus orbit visualization tools and technical columns. Use it to obtain real orbital elements and practice propagating and interpreting actual satellite orbits. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://celestrak.org/ **Tags:** two-line-elements, satellite-tracking, orbit-determination, orbital-elements, space-situational-awareness ### 3. NASA Basics of Space Flight Free NASA chapter on orbital mechanics **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/basics/chapter6-1/ ### 4. aiaa.org American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for aerospace engineers and students. The site provides industry news, research publications (journals and conference proceedings), standards, education resources, events, and career tools for learning and advancing in aerospace engineering. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://aiaa.org **Tags:** websites, engineering-manufacturing, aerospace-engineering ### 5. nasa.gov NASA.gov is the official site of the U.S. space agency, offering mission news, research results, data, and STEM education resources. It features engineering articles, technical briefs, simulations, multimedia, and classroom materials for students and educators. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://nasa.gov **Tags:** websites, engineering-manufacturing, aerospace-engineering ### 6. Space.com Established news and explainer site covering spaceflight and astronomy. It reports on crewed and robotic missions, launches, space agencies, telescopes and night-sky events, and publishes background features that help readers follow current exploration programmes and understand their scientific goals. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://space.com **Tags:** space-news, spaceflight, space-missions, astronomy, launches ## Courses ### 1. Astrodynamics (MIT 16.346) **Author:** Richard Battin Graduate astrodynamics built on the two-body problem: Kepler's and Lambert's problems, orbit determination, powered flight and midcourse maneuvers, multi-body methods and recursive navigation algorithms, with examples from Apollo, the Space Shuttle and Mars missions. Provides 33 lecture note files and problem sets with solutions. **Difficulty:** Advanced | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/16-346-astrodynamics-fall-2008/ **Tags:** astrodynamics, two-body-problem, lamberts-problem, orbit-determination, spacecraft-navigation ## Books ### 1. Orbital Mechanics for Engineering Students **Author:** Howard D. Curtis Undergraduate textbook covering two-body motion, orbital elements, orbit determination from observations, Lambert's problem, orbital maneuvers and Hohmann transfers, interplanetary trajectories, and rigid-body attitude dynamics. Worked examples and MATLAB scripts prepare readers to compute and design spacecraft trajectories themselves. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0750661690?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, engineering-manufacturing, aerospace-engineering ### 2. Fundamentals of Astrodynamics **Author:** Roger R. Bate, Donald D. Mueller, Jerry E. White Inexpensive Dover text developed for the U.S. Air Force Academy covering two-body orbits, orbit determination from radar and optical observations, Kepler's problem, orbital maneuvers, lunar trajectories, and ballistic missile trajectories. Readers learn the classical analytical methods behind practical astrodynamics calculations. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0486600610?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, engineering-manufacturing, aerospace-engineering --- *This content is part of Dantes.io - Your Treasure Map to Knowledge* *Curated by humans at Dantes.io. Personal study use welcome; republishing this curation requires permission (team@dantes.io).* View this page online: https://dantes.io/subject/orbital-mechanics