An orbital spaceflight (or orbital flight) in the general sense is a spaceflight where the trajectory of a spacecraft reaches the height of, and through having an appropriate velocity enters into, orbit around an astronomical body. Most commonly the term is applied specifically to Earth orbit: reaching Earth orbit from the Earth's surface. Space exploration is the physical exploration of outer-Earth objects and generally anything that involves the technologies, science, and politics regarding space endeavors. ... In ordinary language, a trajectory is the path followed by a body moving through space, for instance, the path taken by a falling body or the orbit of a planet. ... Ariane 5 lifts off with the Rosetta probe on 2nd of March, 2004. ... In physics, an orbit is the path that an object makes, around another object, whilst under the influence of a source of centripetal force, such as gravity. ... See lists of astronomical objects for a list of the various lists of astronomical objects in Wikipedia. ... Earth orbit is an orbit around the planet Earth. ... Earth, also known as the Earth or Terra, is the third planet outward from the Sun. ...

In this latter sense, the expression "orbital spaceflight" is mostly used to distinguish from sub-orbital spaceflights, which are flights where the spacecraft reaches space but does not go fast enough to complete a single orbit. Note too that the edge of space (100 km) is much lower than the altitude where a vehicle can circle the earth even once without reentering due to atmospheric drag. Also note that the required speed to "go orbital" (to achieve orbit with known methods) requires atleast 9 km/s (18,000 mph) delta-v, while sub-orbital spacecraft may only fly at about 1.1 km/s to 1.3 km/s (2,500 mph to 3,000 mph). Refer to the article Difference between sub-orbital and orbital spaceflights for further information. A sub-orbital spaceflight (or sub-orbital flight) is a spaceflight that does not involve putting a vehicle into orbit. ... For other meanings of the term space, see space. ... Layers of Atmosphere (NOAA) The Karman Line is an internationally designated altitude commonly used to define outer space. ... A kilometre (American spelling: kilometer) (symbol: km) is a unit of length equal to 1000 metres (from the Greek words khilia = thousand and metro = count/measure). ... kilometre per second is an SI derived unit of both speed (scalar) and velocity (vector), signified by the symbol km/s or km s-1. ... Miles per hour is a unit of speed, expressing the number of international miles covered per hour. ... General In general physics delta-v is simply the change in velocity. ... There sometimes appears to be confusion among the general public about the difference between sub-orbital and orbital spaceflights. ...

There are three main 'bands' of orbit: low Earth orbit, intermediate circular orbit and geostationary orbit. A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit in which objects such as satellites are below intermediate circular orbit (ICO) and far below geostationary orbit, but typically around 350 - 1400 km above the Earths surface. ... Intermediate circular orbit (ICO), also called medium earth orbit (MEO), is used by satellites between the altitudes of low earth orbit (up to 1400 km) and geostationary orbit (ca. ... A geostationary orbit (abbreviated GEO) is a circular orbit in the Earths equatorial plane, any point on which revolves about the Earth in the same direction and with the same period as the Earths rotation. ...

Project HARP was a failed attempt, and a ram accelerator is another design, to launch an object into orbit with a gun, possibly with additional propulsion by a rocket. Project HARP, short for High Altitude Research Project, was a joint project of The Pentagon and the Canadian Department of National Defence created with the goal of studying ballistics of re-entry vehicles at low cost; whereas most such projects used expensive (and failure-prone) rockets, HARP used a very... A ram accelerator is a gun that utilizes ramjet compression to accelerate a projectile to extremely high speeds. ... This article is about firearms and similar devices. ... A Redstone rocket, part of the Mercury program A rocket is a vehicle, missile or aircraft which obtains thrust by the reaction to the ejection of fast moving exhaust gas from within a rocket engine. ...