Hohmann transfer orbit
Órbita de transferencia de Hohmann
- Date
- 1925 · confidence high
- Place
- Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
- Credited to
- Walter Hohmann
- Field
- Movement
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
An elliptical path joining two circular orbits at minimum propellant cost using two burns. Hohmann described it in 'The Attainability of Celestial Bodies' and it remains the reference for transfers between orbits and planets.
Hohmann published it in 1925, but others had anticipated it: Valier cited it in 1924 and Kondratyuk sketched it around 1916-1919 without circulating it.
What it led to
- low-energy interplanetary mission design
- raising satellites from low orbit to geostationary orbit
- planetary launch windows (Mars every 26 months)