Calculating your orbital velocity is straightforward once you know the Orbital Velocity formula and what each input means. This guide explains the method in plain language, walks through a manual calculation, and gives worked examples you can follow — then you can do it instantly with the Orbital Velocity Calculator.
What is Orbital Velocity?
The Orbital Velocity calculation tells you your orbital velocity from a few simple inputs. The figure you are solving for here is the orbital velocity.
The Orbital Velocity formula
The core formula is:
Orbital velocity = √(0.00000000006674 × Mass of central body ÷ (Orbital radius × 1000)) ÷ 1000Here is what each input means:
- Mass of central body — a value measured in kg. Example: 5,972,000,000,000,000,327,155,712 kg.
- Orbital radius — a value measured in km. Example: 6,771 km.
How to calculate it step by step
- Write down the mass of central body (for example, 5,972,000,000,000,000,327,155,712 kg).
- Write down the orbital radius (for example, 6,771 km).
- Apply the formula above to get your orbital velocity.
- Double-check the result with the Orbital Velocity Calculator.
Worked examples
Example 1
| Input / Output | Value |
|---|---|
| Mass of central body | 5,972,000,000,000,000,327,155,712 kg |
| Orbital radius | 6,771 km |
| Orbital velocity | 0.000 |
| In metres per second | 0.0 |
With mass of central body of 5,972,000,000,000,000,327,155,712 kg and orbital radius of 6,771 km, the orbital velocity works out to 0.000.
Example 2
With mass of central body of 11,999,999,999,999,999,798,673,408 kg and orbital radius of 6,771 km, the orbital velocity works out to 0.000.
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Orbital velocity | 0.000 |
| In metres per second | 0.0 |
Example 3
With mass of central body of 2,999,999,999,999,999,949,668,352 kg and orbital radius of 6,771 km, the orbital velocity works out to 0.000.
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Orbital velocity | 0.000 |
| In metres per second | 0.0 |
Tips for an accurate result
- Keep your units consistent — mixing, say, months with years or grams with kilograms is the most common source of error.
- Round only at the very end. Rounding inputs early can shift the final answer noticeably.
- Re-run the numbers whenever an input changes, rather than estimating from an old result.
Prefer not to do the maths by hand? — the Orbital Velocity Calculator does it instantly, for free, with the formula and a worked example built in.
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