Paper

Phys. Educ. 55 (2020) 025011 (9pp) iopscience.org/ped

SpaceX rocket data satisfies

elementary Hohmann transfer
formula
Michael J Ruiz and James Perkins
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina at Asheville, Asheville,
NC 28804, United States of America

E-mail: [email protected] and [email protected]

Abstract
The private company SpaceX regularly launches satellites into geostationary
orbits. SpaceX posts videos of these flights with telemetry data displaying
the time from launch, altitude, and rocket speed in real time. In this paper
this telemetry information is used to determine the velocity boost of the
rocket as it leaves its circular parking orbit around the Earth to enter a
Hohmann transfer orbit, an elliptical orbit on which the spacecraft reaches
a high altitude. A simple derivation is given for the Hohmann transfer
velocity boost that introductory students can derive on their own with a little
teacher guidance. They can then use the SpaceX telemetry data to verify the
theoretical results, finding the discrepancy between observation and theory
to be 3% or less. The students will love the rocket videos as the launches and
transfer burns are very exciting to watch.

Introduction Complex 39A at the NASA Kennedy Space

SpaceX is a company that ‘designs, manufactures Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. This launch
and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft. complex dates back to the 1960s when it was used
The company was founded in 2002 to revolution- for the Saturn V rocket of the Apollo program,
ize space technology, with the ultimate goal of which first sent astronauts to the Moon in 1969.
enabling people to live on other planets’ [1]. Its The mission depicted in figure 1 is the deployment
founder Elon Musk is also known for his role as of Bangabandhu Satellite-1, ‘Bangladesh’s first
cofounder of PayPal and Tesla, the company that geostationary communications satellite’ [3]. The
developed the Tesla electric car. Musk, entrepre- F9 is the ninth version in SpaceX’s Falcon rocket
neur extraordinaire, after two years at Queen’s series. Student fans of Star Wars films by George
University in Ontario, Canada transferred on a Lucas will be delighted to know that the Falcon
scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania series is named after the legendary Millennium
(Penn) [2]. He earned an undergraduate degree in Falcon ‘commanded by Harrison Ford’s charac-
economics from The Wharton School, the presti- ter Han Solo’ [4]. The reader can find many won-
gious school of management at Penn [2]. He then derful photos of SpaceX missions posted at the
earned another bachelor’s degree at Penn—one in website of photographer Ben Cooper [5] and the
physics [2]. SpaceX flickr account [6].
See figure  1 for a photo by Ben Cooper of We propose in this paper a real-life rocket
SpaceX’s F9 rising into space from Launch application for introductory students as early as a

1361-6552/ 20 /025011+9$33.00 1 © 2020 IOP Publishing Ltd

M J Ruiz and J Perkins

Figure 1.  Launch of SpaceX’s F9 rocket carrying the Bangabandhu satellite for deployment in a geostationary
orbit, 11 May 2018. Reproduced with permission from [5]. See the photographer’s website [5] and the SpaceX
website [6] for many beautiful rocket photos.

pre-university physics course. Beginning students launched to enter a temporary circular parking
learn about circular motion, Newton’s second law, orbit around the Earth at low altitude. Second,
Newton’s Universal Law of Gravitation, kinetic an engine burn occurs to increase the velocity so
energy, and potential energy. Using these basic that the rocket transfers to an elliptical orbit that
concepts without needing calculus we outline a les- will take the spacecraft to a higher altitude. See
son plan where students can derive the necessary figure  2 for an illustration of the parking orbit,
theoretical formulas with a little guidance from the the transfer orbit, and the destination orbit. The
teacher. Then, students can access rocket data from third part of the mission is the release of the sat-
telemetry in videos to verify the theoretical results. ellite from the main rocket. The fourth and final
A simplified derivation is given for the change maneuver is another burn so that the satellite is
in velocity needed to propel a rocket from a circu- ultimately placed in a geostationary orbit, one
lar parking orbit into an elliptical, Hohmann trans- where the satellite orbits above the same position
fer orbit. Then, telemetry data provided by SpaceX on the equator.
in real time for many rocket trajectories are used to The elliptical transfer orbit in figure  2 is
compare observational results to those calculated named after the engineer Walter Hohmann who
from the formula. The telemetry data appear in a wrote his classic paper on transfer orbits in 1925
corner section of each SpaceX video of the rocket [7]. The destination orbit is intentionally not
launches. The videos are exciting in themselves as labeled as a geostationary orbit in figure 2 since
rocket flights into space are shows to behold. SpaceX often chooses different intermediate max-
imum altitudes for their various flights, i.e. dif-
ferent r2 values, before eventually maneuvering
Hohmann transfer orbit
into a geostationary orbit. The parking orbit dis-
A mission to place a satellite into orbit can be tance r1 also depends on the specific flight. When
broken down into four parts. First, a rocket is the value of r2 is close to the geosynchronous

March 2020 2 Phys. Educ. 55 (2020) 025011

 SpaceX rocket data satisfies elementary Hohmann transfer formula

Figure 2.  Parking orbit, Hohmann transfer orbit, and destination orbit. Earth image is Public Domain Courtesy
NASA. Actual view of Earth would be looking down at the North Pole for a geostationary destination orbit.

distance, measured from the center of the Earth, The mathematical formulas
SpaceX labels the flight with the designation GTO Introductory students learn that the total energy
for geosynchronous transfer orbit. When r2 val- for a satellite (mass m ) in a circular orbit around
ues are significantly less than the geosynchronous the Earth (mass M ) at a distance r from the center
distance the label is GTO−  (GTO minus); for r2 of the Earth is given by
values significantly greater, the transfer orbit is
labeled GTO+  (GTO plus). Note that a geosyn- 1 GMm
E = mv2 −
(1) .
chronous orbit has a period equal to the Earth’s 2 r
rotation, while the term geostationary refers to a They also learn Newton’s second law Fc = mac ,
geosynchronous orbit over the equator such that
where the centripetal force is Fc = GMmr2
and the
the satellite remains stationary with respect to a 1 v2
position on the Earth’s equator below. centripetal acceleration is ac = r . The mass of
The destination orbit altitudes above the the Earth M is taken to be very large compared to
Earth’s surface can be found online [8] in space the mass of the satellite m . From Newton’s sec-
launch reports. Knowing the destination altitude ond law with centripetal acceleration the speed of
is important in the theoretical analysis below. In the satellite can be expressed as
…
this paper, the focus is on the boost speed needed GM
to enter the Hohmann transfer orbit that takes the (2) v= .
r
satellite to the destination altitude. Details in the
subsequent trajectory maneuvers to finally arrive
at the geostationary altitude 36 000 km above the
Earth’s surface are not provided by SpaceX and 1
Acceleration is labeled with the subscript ‘c’ for centripetal
these adjustments occur long after the typically since ‘a’ without a subscript is reserved to represent the
one-hour long SpaceX videos. semi-major axis in this paper.

March 2020 3 Phys. Educ. 55 (2020) 025011

M J Ruiz and J Perkins

Figure 3.  A satellite in an elliptical orbit around the Earth with semi-major axis a and semi-minor axis b. The
angular momentum L takes on a simple form at the extreme orbital points since the velocity vector is perpendicular
to the radial vector at each of the extreme points.

At this point it is instructive for the student to use vector. Therefore, angular momentum is given by
equation  (2) in conjunction with equation  (1) to L = mvr at the turning points and equation  (1)
arrive at the equivalent form becomes
GMm L2 GMm
E=−
(3) (5)
E= − ,
2r 2mr2 r
for the total energy. Equation (3) is a well-known after substituting v = mr L
. Note that equa-
result for circular orbits. The subtle step now is tion (5) only applies at the turning points where
to find the generalization of equation  (3) for an L = mu1 r1 = mu2 r2. The next step outlined by
elliptical orbit, which is needed for the Hohmann French [10] is to write equation  (5) at the peri-
theoretical analysis. gee (r1 ) and again for the apogee (r2 ) to obtain
See figure  3 for a satellite in an elliptical two equations. Then the two simultaneous
orbit around the Earth with semi-major axis a equations  are solved to find E by eliminating
and semi-minor axis b. The maximum velocity u1 L . However, Lawrence Evans at Duke University
is the velocity at the closest approach to Earth, [11] showed the authors a very clever trick that
a point called the perigee, where r = r1. For the further simplifies the algebra in a most elegant
farthest distance from Earth at the apogee, r = r2 way. Write equation (5) as
with the minimum orbital velocity u2 .
The authors have learned from Carl E GMm L2
(6) r2 + r− = 0,
Mungan and Murray S Korman of the United E 2mE
States Naval Academy [9] that many years ago where the roots are the turning points. Therefore,
Anthony French [10] included a homework prob- (r − r1 )(r − r2 ) = r2 − (r1 + r2 )r + r1 r2 = 0 is
lem in his mechanics text so that students can equivalent to equation  (6). By comparing the r
show with simple algebra that the generalization terms in each equation, GMmE = −(r1 + r2 ). Since
of equation (3) for the ellipse is r1 + r2 = 2a,
GMm GMm
E=−
(4) , E=−
(7) ,
2a 2a
where a is the semi-major axis. The trick is to the desired result obtained in essentially one line
recognize that at the extremes, perigee and apo- of algebra.
gee, also called the turning points, the veloc- The spacecraft in figure  2 is initially in a
ity vector is perpendicular to the radial distance parking circular orbit with velocity v1 and radius

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 SpaceX rocket data satisfies elementary Hohmann transfer formula
Table 1.  Velocity boosts to enter Hohmann transfer orbit: observation compared to theory. Columns v1 initial,
v1 final, Δv1 obs, and h1 are from the video telemetry, h2 is from the flight launch reports [8], and Δv1 th is
calculated from equation (11) using h1 and h2.
PCT
v1 initial v1 final Δv1 obs Δv1 th error
Description (km h−1) (km h−1) (m s−1) h1 (km) h2 (km) (m s−1) (%)
F9-22 SES 9 26 430 35 254 2450 291 40 600 2500 2.0
F9-24 JCSAT 14 26 570 35 276 2420 198 35 957 2460 1.7
F9-25 Thiacom 8 26 448 36 440 2780 274 90 226 2850 2.6
F9-28 JCSAT 16 26 568 35 238 2410 198 35 912 2460 2.1
F9-35 Inmarsat 5 F4 26 418 36 095 2690 295 69 839 2750 2.2
F9-37 BulgariaSat 1 26 477 36 134 2680 250 65 640 2740 2.2
F9-39 Intelsat 35e 26 503 35 477 2490 248 42 742 2540 2.0
F9-43 EchoStar 105/SES 11 26 429 35 262 2450 288 40 519 2500 2.0
F9-45 Koreasat 5A 26 421 35 565 2540 288 50 185 2610 2.8
F9-49 Govsat 1 26 489 35 978 2640 249 52 000 2640 0.0
F9-55 Bangabandhu 1 26 392 34 840 2350 295 35 549 2420 3.0
F9-57 SES 12 26 457 35 859 2610 288 58 370 2680 2.7
F9-61 Merah Putih 26 579 34 900 2310 195 29 503 2340 1.3
F9-62 Telstar 18V 26 490 33 432 1930 257 18 060 1970 2.1
F9-64 Es’hail 2 26 595 35 457 2460 182 37 866 2490 1.2
F9-70 Nusantara 26 550 36 423 2740 208 69 036 2770 1.1
FH-2 Arabsat 6A 26 572 36 700 2810 198 89 815 2870 2.1

r1. The rocket engine must fire to increase the Equation (11) is a sophisticated result encounter­ed
velocity by ∆v1 to achieve the speed necessary usually in intermediate or advanced texts in
to shift the rocket to the elliptical orbit where the mechanics. See the fine text Orbital Motion by
perigee and apogee are given by r1 and r2 . See Archie Roy [12], the first edition originally pub-
both figures  2 and 3. Comparing these figures, lished in 1978. The year before this first edition
u1 = v1 + ∆v1 at the elliptical perigee distance was published Roy wrote an introductory calcu-
r = r1. The kinetic and potential energies for the lus-based paper for teachers in this journal [13],
elliptical orbit at the perigee can be set equal to where he discussed rocket dynamics, elliptical
the constant total energy given by equation (7): orbits in polar coordinates, and Hohmann trans-
fer. He also derived equation (11) and the comple-
1 2 GMm GMm
m(v1 + ∆v) −
(8) =− . mentary equation for the velocity boost ∆v2 at the
2 r1 2a
apogee in order to enter the higher circular orbit
The velocity change ∆v is the additional speed from the elliptical orbit (refer to figure 2).
needed for the satellite to enter the Hohmann In the next section, the theoretical velocity
transfer orbit. From equation (8), boost ∆v1 as calculated from equation  (11) will
2GM GM be compared to the observational telemetry data
2
(9)
(v1 + ∆v) = − . found in the SpaceX videos for many flights [14].
r1 a
The focus is on the velocity boost ∆v1 at the peri-
Using the substitution a = r1 +r
2 , after a few lines
2
gee where SpaceX supplies the telemetry data.
of algebra, The subsequent maneuvers to eventually reach
    the geostationary orbit take place much later. The
GM 2r2 students can calculate this time.
(10) v1 + ∆v = .
r1 r1 + r2 As an example, students can consider a
» satellite leaving a parking orbit with altitude
Employing v1 = GM r1
according to equation (2), h1 = 200 km above the Earth’s surface to reach
equation (10) becomes apogee on an elliptical journey to a geosynchro-
  ñ  ô nous height h2 = 36 000 km above the Earth’s
GM 2r2
(11) ∆v1 = −1 . surface. The answer can be found with Kepler’s
r1 r1 + r2

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M J Ruiz and J Perkins

Figure 4.  (a) Photo of the Falcon 9 carrying the Bangabandhu satellite into space, 11 May 2018. Reproduced with
permission from [5]. (b) Sample telemetry data that appears in a section of the SpaceX videos. The telemetry data
changes in real time, matching the speed and altitude of the spacecraft.

Third Law T 2 = 4π
2
3 T Telemetry data and flight data
GM a , where the result is 2 , the
time for half the orbit. Using specialized units The values for the apogee distances of the
where the time is measured in ‘months’ (lunar Hohmann transfer orbit are given by SpaceX
periods) and distance in terms of the unit distance as distances measured from the Earth’s surface
between the centers of the Earth and Moon, the [8], i.e. the altitude h2 . The value r2 is found by
calculation is faster, without needing values for G adding the radius of the Earth R to the altitude:
and M [15]. The answer is T2 = 5 h, rounded off r = R + h . The radius of the Earth at the equa-
to the nearest hour. tor (R = 6378 km) is used in each case. The val-
As mentioned earlier for the various SpaceX ues for h2 are listed in table 1 for many SpaceX
flights, the maximum altitudes above the Earth’s flights. Final percentage errors are reported to two
surface for the destination orbits can be much less significant figures.
than h2 = 36 000 km (GTO−), approximately The observational values for h1, v1, and ∆v1
36 000 km (GTO), or much greater (GTO+). are obtained from the telemetry data in the appro-
These altitudes are reached long after the one-hour priate SpaceX video [14]. See figure  4(a) for a
long video as found above with Kepler’s Third screenshot from the Bangabandhu Mission and
Law. Rocket burns are done at that latter time to figure  4(b) for sample live telemetry data that
maneuver the satellite again to eventually circu- appears in a section of the SpaceX videos. For the
larise the orbit at the geosynchronous height of instant in figure 4(b), telemetry data indicates that
36 000 km above the Earth’s surface. the time is 1 min 10 s after launch and the rocket

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 SpaceX rocket data satisfies elementary Hohmann transfer formula

Figure 5.  Falcon Heavy carrying the Arabsat 6A satellite into space. Reproduced with permission from [5].

is traveling at 1503 km · h−1 at an altitude of 11.8 therefore recorded just before SES-2, at which
km above the Earth’s surface. time the speed starts to rapidly change in the video
When the second stage cuts off for the first telemetry section. The second stage will stay on
time, the rocket enters its parking circular orbit. for approximately a minute or less, depending on
SpaceX refers to this second stage engine cut- the specific flight. The student notes the final value
off as SECO-1, where the 1 indicates the first for v1 when the second stage cuts off for the sec-
time the second stage engine has been turned ond time, SECO-2. The values recorded in table 1
off. However, the parking orbit is not precisely are the initial and final values for v1 and the pair h1
a circle as students will observe the velocity and and h2 . The values for v1 initial, v1 final, Δv1 obs,
height changing slightly over time. A typical time and h1 are from the video telemetry, h2 is from the
for the rocket to stay in the parking orbit is about flight launch reports [8], and Δv1 th is calculated
20 min. Therefore, the values for h1 and v1 are from equation (11) using h1 and h2.
recorded after roughly 20 min and just before the The observed velocity boost ∆v1 = v1 ( final)−
engine fires up to give the spacecraft the neces- v1 (initial) and appears in the ∆v1 obs column.
sary velocity boost to enter the elliptical transfer Note that the units have been converted to m · s−1.
orbit. SpaceX refers to the second stage engine The theoretical value for ∆v1 is found from equa-
restart as SES-2. The first time the second stage tion (11), inserting r1 = R + h1 and r2 = R + h2,
started, SES-1, was during the initial flight to the where R is taken to be R = 6378 km, the radius
parking orbit when it took over after the first stage of the Earth at the equator. All values for ∆v1 obs
engine. and ∆v1 th are rounded off to three significant fig-
Students will have fun finding h1 and v1 from î ó
th−∆v1 obs
the video telemetry as they will have to be alert ures. The percent­age error 100% ∆v1 ∆v 1 obs
is
to pause the video at the right instant. It took the found to be 3% or less. Sources of error include
authors several times to pause at the right place. the idealization in the theoretical model of a per-
The values for h1 and v1 entered in table  1 are fectly circular parking orbit and an instantaneous

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M J Ruiz and J Perkins

Figure 6.  Two rocket boosters of the Falcon Heavy landing after use. Reproduced with permission from [5].

velocity boost. The actual velocity boost takes portion of the video showing multiple views of
about a minute in several of the missions. the two side boosters returning to Earth.

The Falcon heavy Conclusion

The Arabsat 6A mission in table 1 used a transfer A real-life rocket application has been presented
obit with a very large apogee distance of 90 000 with associated theoretical analysis and telem-
km above the Earth’s surface before the orbit etry flight data. Even students in pre-university
was finally circularised at the geosynchronous physics classes can understand the mathematics,
altitude of 36 000 km above the Earth’s surface. which only uses algebra. The starting point is
SpaceX employed the Falcon Heavy for this the total energy for a satellite in a circular orbit,
job to make it easier to reach the initial 90 000 already included in the curriculum of an introduc-
km above the Earth’s surface. See figure  5 for tory physics course. A derivation is shown to gen-
the launch of this mission. Note the extra rocket eralize the energy equation for an elliptical orbit.
boosters on the Falcon Heavy when compared Then, the formula giving the boost velocity nec-
the F9 in figure 1. essary to place the rocket into a Hohmann transfer
A surprising feature of SpaceX videos is that orbit is derived using simple algebra. The teacher
booster rockets are recovered with dramatic return can outline these derivations in order to let the
landings to the ground. In the Falcon Heavy video students work out the algebra for themselves.
two side boosters are seen returning with multiple Students then watch exciting SpaceX videos
camera views. See figure 6 for a photo of the two to obtain observational data from telemetry in real
boosters landing. Students can be given a history time. The telemetric boost velocity is compared to
lesson of the Space Shuttle where boosters were the calculated value using the theoretical formula.
recovered after falling into the ocean. It is amaz- Agreement is found to be 3% or less. Some error
ing that SpaceX boosters land back on the ground is expected since the theoretical model assumes
like a science fiction movie. Be sure to watch this an initial ideal circular orbit and an instantaneous

March 2020 8 Phys. Educ. 55 (2020) 025011

 SpaceX rocket data satisfies elementary Hohmann transfer formula
velocity boost. The actual increase in velocity [8] Kyle E 2019 Space Launch Report https://
occurs over many seconds. spacelaunchreport.com/falcon9ft.html
(Accessed: 4 December 2019)
In summary, the activity outlined in this
[9] Mungan C E 2009 Derivation of Kepler’s
paper allows the student to connect physics to Third Law and the Energy Equation for an
the engineering marvel of rocket science through Elliptical Orbit (Annapolis, MD: United
theory and data. The assignment also includes States Naval Academy) www.usna.edu/
the excitement of watching a rocket launch and Users/physics/mungan/_files/documents/
Scholarship/EllipticalOrbits.pdf (Accessed: 4
rocket maneuvering in space. December 2019)
[10] French A P 1971 Newtonian Mechanics
(London: Thomas Nelson and Sons) p 619
Acknowledgments [11] Evans L 2010 General Physics I Notes: Satellite
The authors would like to thank photographer Orbits (Durham, NC: Duke University)
Ben Cooper for permission to use his excellent http://webhome.phy.duke.edu/~lee/P53/sat.
pdf (Accessed: 4 December 2019)
launch photographs [5]. [12] Roy A E 2005 Orbital Motion 4th edn (Bristol:
Institute of Physics Publishing) pp 350–3
[13] Roy A E 1977 Astrodynamics (for teachers)
Received 26 September 2019, in final form 28 October 2019 Phys. Educ. 12 445–51
Accepted for publication 5 December 2019
[14] SpaceX YouTube Channel 2019 YouTube www.
https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6552/ab5f4c
youtube.com/spacex (Accessed: 4 December
2019)
References [15] Ruiz M J 2004 Kepler’s third law without a
[1] SpaceX 2019 Space Exploration Technologies calculator Phys. Teach. 42 530–3
Corporation www.spacex.com/ (Accessed: 4
December 2019)
[2] Vance A 2015 Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and
Michael J Ruiz is professor of physics
the Quest for a Fantastic Future (London:
at the University of North Carolina at
HarperCollins Publishers) ch 3 Asheville (UNCA), USA. He received
[3] SpaceX 2018 Bangabandhu Satellite-1 Mission his PhD in theoretical physics from the
www.spacex.com/sites/spacex/files/ University of Maryland, USA. His
bangabandhupresskit51118.pdf (Accessed: 4 innovative courses with a strong online
December 2019) component aimed at general students
[4] Seedhouse E 2013 SpaceX: Making Commercial have been featured on CNN.
Spaceflight a Reality (London: Springer) p 51
[5] Cooper B 2019 Launch Photography by Ben
Cooper www.launchphotography.com/Launch_ James Perkins is an associate
Photos.html (Accessed: 4 December 2019) professor at the University of North
[6] Official SpaceX Photos 2019 flickr www.flickr. Carolina at Asheville, USA. He
com/photos/spacex (Accessed: 4 December received his PhD in physics from
2019) North Carolina State University, USA.
[7] Hohmann W 1960 The Attainability of He teaches the introductory physics
Heavenly Bodies (Washington, DC: National course for physical science majors and
Aeronautics and Space Administration), engineers, a variety of upper-level
translated from the original 1925 German physics courses, and team teaches in the university’s core
manuscript Humanities Program.

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