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Mission study · LEO → lunar orbit → LEO

From vision to simulation.

The reference mission for the SpaceOro network: an autonomous reusable transporter departing low Earth orbit, transferring to lunar orbit, operating there, and returning to the Earth node. Values below are marked either as calculated from orbital mechanics or as conceptual assumptions.

Simulated / calculatedConceptual assumption
20days
LEO ↔ Lunar orbit · round trip
180days*
LEO ↔ Mars · return transit (later expansion)

* Dependent on orbital geometry at departure — transfer duration varies with the launch window, phase angle and synodic alignment.

  1. 010 h
    LEO Departure

    Loiter in the departure orbit until the translunar window opens.

  2. 02~4 days
    Translunar Transfer

    Coast along the transfer ellipse toward lunar distance.

  3. 03~5 days MET
    Lunar Orbit Insertion

    Braking burn at periselene captures into lunar orbit.

  4. 04~7 days
    Mission Operations

    Cargo delivery, rendezvous or station-keeping at the lunar node.

  5. 05~4 days
    Return Transfer

    Trans-Earth injection places the vehicle on a return arc.

  6. 0620 days round trip
    LEO Arrival

    Capture at the Earth node; vehicle turned around for reuse.

Orbital parameters
Earth radius
6,371 km
Moon radius
1,737.4 km
Mean Earth–Moon distance
384,400 km
Lunar sidereal period
27.32 days
Lunar orbital speed
1.022 km/s
μ Earth
398,600.44 km³/s²
Departure orbitassumed
400 km circular LEO
Target lunar orbitassumed
100 km circular
Δv budget
LEO circular speed (400 km)
7.67 km/s
Trans-lunar injection Δv
≈ 3.13 km/s
Lunar orbit insertion Δv
≈ 0.82 km/s
Trans-Earth injection Δv
≈ 0.82 km/s
LEO arrival (propulsive) Δv
≈ 3.13 km/s
Round-trip Δv (all-propulsive)
≈ 7.9 km/s
Margin & losses allowanceassumed
+ 5–10 %
Vehicle assumptions
Vehicle classassumed
Reusable orbital transporter
Crewassumed
Uncrewed / autonomous
Propulsionassumed
Storable bipropellant, Isp ≈ 320 s
Payloadassumed
Standardised cargo carrier
Dockingassumed
Autonomous rendezvous at both nodes
Refuellingassumed
At orbital node, where infrastructure exists
Simulation results
  • Real-time propagation of the lunar orbit reproduces the 27.32-day sidereal period and the 384,400 km mean range shown in the viewer above.
  • A round trip is dominated by two ~3.1 km/s Earth-side burns; propellant, not time, is the limiting resource for reuse.
  • A complete LEO → lunar orbit → LEO cycle closes in about 20 days, short enough for a single vehicle to fly repeated autonomous rotations.
  • Refuelling at the lunar node would remove the return-side Earth burn from the launched mass budget — the single largest lever on network economics.
Mission constraints & modelling limits
  • · Two-body patched-conic approximation; no n-body or perturbation modelling
  • · Circular, coplanar lunar orbit assumed for the visualisation
  • · Launch and ascent to LEO are outside the modelled mission scope
  • · Thermal, radiation and life-support analysis not yet performed
  • · No aerobraking or aerocapture credited in the Δv budget

SpaceOro is a research and engineering concept. No vehicle, service or infrastructure described here exists or is operational.