#Kerbal space program kos full

Rockets with very low TWR might not need to throttle back much if at all. Rockets with very high thrust to weight ratio (TWR) will need to throttle back more. I can't tell you how much '% throttle' you should adjust to, because it depends on the rocket.

#Kerbal space program kos full

At the initial lauch, start off at full throttle, but be prepared to quickly lower the throttle. The velocity limit changes with height (altitude). If you go too fast you'll be wasting much or most of your thrust (and thus fuel) to drag forces. During this time, adjust your throttle to limit your speed. Go straight up for the first 10,000 meters.

'Optimal' (or at least quite efficient) method for achieving orbit (on Kerbin specifically) I do agree however with the author of the video that going too far straight 'up' is wasteful. So in conclusion, there are losses associated with this 'upwards velocity' but it's not a total loss. The optimal transition tradeoff between course correction losses and drag losses happens almost invariably at around 10,000 m altitude (specifically with Kerbin). By that, the gravity turn should be done earlier rather than later. It is most efficient to perform course corrections at the point of lowest, orbital kinetic energy. And similarly, since the initial orbit is so terribly elliptical, it will invariably involve the following: b) later when the orbit needs to be circularized, it must involve course corrections (perpendicular to the velocity vector) that are done at higher orbital kinetic energies.

Also, orbital energy is only increased by the component of the thrust vector (your heading when you apply thrust) that is parallel with the velocity vector, i.e., parallel to your orbital prograde vector. There is a loss associated with the component of thrust being parallel to the gravity vector, which is why prograde and retrograde maneuvers are most efficient at apoapsis and periapsis.

The true losses come from a) performing a maneuver such that a component of the thrust vector is parallel to the gravitational acceleration vector (gravity losses), in other words, increasing the apoapsis at a location other than the periapsis. The 'upwards velocity' (as it was called) eventually gets converted to potential energy, which gets stored in the orbit (albeit initially, an extremely eliptical orbit). Orbital energy has two components, kinetic energy and potential energy. (btw, the terms 'upwards velocity' and 'sideways velocity' are not my terms they were from the video.) It's true that it's wasteful to go straight up for too long when achieving orbit.